Autumn Concert - 10 November 2023

PROGRAMME CONCERT BAND Steve Foster conductor

Mars (The Planets) Duke Ellington in Concert Polka Party

Gustav Holst (1874-1934), arr. Bocock arr. Paul Murtha (b.1960) arr. Paul Murtha

The Concert Band opens tonight’s concert with a movement from one of the most popular symphonic works of the 20th Century. The unique style and musical drama of The Planets have influenced everything from serious concert music to movie scores. Without question, Mars is the famous highlight of the suite, adapted here in an exciting arrangement for band.

Duke Ellington and his orchestra helped define the role of jazz in America, and the Concert Band is delighted to share a swingin' medley which features many of his memorable hits, including Take the ‘A’ Train, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Caravan, Mood Indigo and It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing). To conclude their performance this evening, they switch musical genres again to entertain you with a sequence of polka hits: Pennsylvania Polka, Just Because, and The Chicken Dance.

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Joshua Davis horn, Peter Davis conductor

Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, op. 11 i) ii) iii)

Allegro Andante Allegro

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Richard Strauss composed his first horn concerto for his father, who was the principal horn at the Munich Court Orchestra in the 1880s. However, due to the technical demands of the piece, the premiere was given by the horn player Gustav Leinhos. Although it has three movements, each is played attacca, i.e. without a formal break between each movement (apart from a small pause before the last).

The first movement opens with a triumphant chord from the orchestra, after which the horn takes over unaccompanied with a heroic and arpeggiated melodic phrase. The orchestra develops and elaborates this idea, following which the horn introduces a new, more lyrical theme which I particularly enjoy interpreting. After the orchestra plays the first theme again, the horn suddenly interrupts with a descending arpeggio and rising scale. Throughout this movement, the horn has the opportunity to show off its range and it ends with a final message from the horn and with the orchestra repeating the opening theme one last time.

The second movement is in ternary form and is much slower and quieter, with a lovely lyrical A section, showcasing the beauty of the horn. In the second playing of this melody, there is a lovely woodwind countermelody in the orchestra which connects the soloist with the accompanying forces. There is a sudden change in dynamic in the B section, with the orchestra using sextuplets to accompany this sudden change. There is a beautiful return to the music of the A section as the movement ends.

The final movement reprises the opening melodic phrase, reminiscent of the first movement; however, the technical demands for the horn increase massively in this spirited movement.

Towards the final section, there is a significant moment where the horn has a long, sustained note to take a break and prepare for the final Allegro section. This coda demonstrates the speed at which the horn can play, and the piece ends with ascending and descending triumphant phrases.

Joshua Davis Joshua is a music scholar in Form 7 who studies the horn with Mr Jonathan Harris.

Soirées musicales, op. 9 i) ii) v)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

March Canzonetta Tarantella

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this work is by Britten: it is in fact a sparkling orchestral suite crafted and orchestrated by the British composer, but based on lesser-known themes by Rossini! Dance rhythms predominate – in fact, its origin as ballet music led to the work later being re-choreographed by Balanchine – and this charming music is testament both to the quality of Rossini’s material, as well as Britten’s assured touch in orchestral humour.

The characterisation of the contrasting styles could hardly be bettered, opening with humorous percussion and piccolo writing in the March (derived from the opera, William Tell). The music of the lyrical Canzonetta is borrowed from Rossini’s own Soirées Musicales, before the full orchestra combines in a riotously rhythmic Tarentella to conclude the suite.

INTERVAL (15 minutes) CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Emily Holland director

Chamber Symphony in C minor, op. 110a ` i) ii) iii)

Largo Allegro molto Allegretto

iv) v)

Largo Largo

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

The Chamber Symphony, op. 110a, is a string orchestra transcription of Shostakovich’s famous String Quartet No. 8. This was written in the short space of three days during a visit to Dresden in the summer of 1960. Shostakovich was profoundly shocked by both film footage of the wartime destruction of the city that he was due to set to music, and by the damage that was still visible in this once proud symbol of European culture. He began to compose the quartet instead, which he dedicated “to the memory of the victims of fascism and war”. Despite that being the work’s public face, the composer’s use of quotations from his works is a sign of something deeply personal. The chirpy opening of the Symphony No. 1 is transformed into something mournful and weary near the very start of the first movement; the sinister dance from the finale of the Piano Trio No. 2 is sped up to the verge of hysteria in the second. There are also quotations from two more recent works, the Symphony No. 11 and the Cello Concerto No. 1, as well as the opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, that was condemned by Stalin in 1936.

Over and above all this sounds Shostakovich’s musical motto, the D-S-C-H motif representing his own name, which he first used in the Symphony No. 10 (1953). Whether used as the basis of the desolate fugato which opens the work, subjected to frenzied repetition in the second movement, or turned into a skittish waltz-tune in a desperate attempt at light-heartedness in the Allegretto, its all-pervading presence suggests that Shostakovich is trying to tell us something extremely private. As he wrote to his friend Isaak Glickman shortly after he returned from Dresden, “I reflected that if I die some day then it’s hardly likely anyone will write a work dedicated to my memory. So I decided to write one myself. You could even write on the cover, ‘Dedicated to the memory of the composer of this quartet.’ ”

BIG BAND

Steve Foster director

Pennsylvania 6-5000 Every little thing she does is magic Rock with you I’m still standing Cool

Jerry Gray (1915-1976), arr. Berry Sting (b. 1951), arr. Murtha Rod Temperton (b. 1949), arr. Holmes Elton John (b. 1947), arr. Murtha Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), arr. Taylor

PERFORMERS CONCERT BAND Flute Clarinet Oboe Alto Sax Tenor Sax Horn Trumpet/Cornet Trombone Bass Guitar Percussion

Clara Altermann, Shonali Banerjee, Ibti Al Sayigh, Marni Lennard, Emma Breag, Poppy Lovelace, Izzy Lloyd Harry Kinnear, Bertie Price, Hattie Jackson, Henry Botham, Jacob Littlewood, Fraser Cameron, Jytte Lam, Elodie Warke, Helen Williams Alvina Kwok Jason He, Rebecca Cao, Prince Bharaj, Emily Kinnear, Isabella Kluger, Charlie Piper, Clara Morgan, Hester Milne, Samantha Read George Marshall Joshua Lai, Jonathan Harris Wilfred Price, Sebastian Maxted, Eddie Nicholson, Grace Hornsby, Monty Price, Iona Simpson, Minnie Henson, Toby Wilson, Oliver Reynolds Fergus Simpson, Will Fearn, Alexa Berkin-Evans, Ottó Stone, Harry Sutterby, Archie Foster Zoe Wardell Sergey Umanskiy, Ryan Hou, Holly Prothero, James Ainsworth

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Flute Felix Morgan, Shonali Banerjee, Ibti Al Sayigh Oboe Matthew Rose, Zadie Berkin-Evans Clarinet Helen Williams, Harry Kinnear, Jason He Bassoon Danté Scott-Horne Horn Joshua Davis, Zoe Wardell Trumpet Steve Foster Trombone Will Fearn, Ottó Stone, Archie Foster Timpani/Percussion Ryan Hou Piano Anne Bolt Violin1 Maya Mbogo, Lizzie Wyer, Elsa Marsh, Nicola Chotrani, Daisy Griffiths, Millie Headley, Joshua Lai Violin 2 Evie Holder, Faith Taylor, Ash Stephenson, Lara Nesselhut, Maxim El-Sheikh, Ethan Chan, Harriet Devenyi, Ruby Dudin, Beth Miles, Chelsea Wang, Emma Markillie Viola Tomas Dickinson, Alexa Berkin-Evans, Emily Holland Cello Ethan Taylor, Isabelle White, Grace Lai, Emma Chotrani, Lauren Taylor Double Bass Sofia Nico, Tom McKenzie

PERFORMERS continued CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Violin1 Violin 2 Viola Cello

Maya Mbogo, Daisy Griffiths, Lizzie Wyer, Nicola Chotrani Evie Holder, Millie Headley, Faith Taylor, Maxim El-Sheikh, Chelsea Wang Elsa Marsh, Tomas Dickinson Ethan Taylor, Isabelle White, Danté Scott-Horne

BIG BAND Alto Sax Tenor Sax Baritone Sax Trumpet Trombone Piano Bass Guitar Drums

Jason He, Rebecca Cao, Charlie Piper, Hester Milne George Marshall, Prince Bharaj Emily Kinnear Wilfred Price, Daniel Miles, Grace Hornsby, Sebastian Maxted, Eddie Nicholson, Monty Price, Iona Simpson Fergus Simpson, Will Fearn, Ottó Stone, Alexa Berkins-Evans, Archie Foster Joshua Davis Sofia Nico, Zoe Wardell Freddy Astill Edward Marshall

FORTHCOMING MUSIC AT LUNCHTIME All Saints’ Church, 1.30pm (free admission) Wednesday 15 November Wednesday 22 November Wednesday 29 November

Wednesday 6 December Wednesday 10 January Wednesday 17 January Wednesday 24 January

Grace Lai piano

Music by J S Bach, Coleridge-Taylor, Debussy & Mozart

String Players

Selected solos and duets for orchestral strings

Guitar Ensemble & Woodwind Players

Music to include David Burden Folk Suite for Guitar Quartet

Form 3 Music Award Holders

Music to include trios by Bridge & Haydn

Ewan Stockwell tenor

English Songs by Britten, Gurney & Vaughan Williams

Nicola Chotrani violin

Bach Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042

Safi Ross mezzo-soprano

Selected music theatre repertoire