Summer Concert 2023 at St Mellitus
Sun, 9 Jul 2023
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Conductor - Oliver TillLeader - Tina BowlesSoloist: Geoff Irwin |
Concert Programme:
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London Medical Orchestra’s Spring celebrated the life of Joanna Bosanquet, LMOs 2nd Flute, Treasurer and Trustee, with a concert dedicated to her memory.
Jean Sibelius' epic tone poems 'Finlandia' and 'En Saga' bookend the programme and the middle two works, from the classical ere, are lighter in character. Schubert's sunny 5th Symphony, requested by Joanna, was penned when the composer was only 19 and displays his natural and open-hearted approach to writing for orchestra. Weber's 'Andante e Rondo Ungarese', written for the composer's brother, features Geoffrey Irwin, LMO's Principal Viola, as soloist in this display of Hungarian virtuosity.
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Programme Notes
Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)
Sibelius was a Finnish composer and violinist, widely recognised as his country's greatest composer, thanks in part to some of his early music that helped Finland develop a national identity during its struggle for independence from Russia.Finlandia Op. 26
Finlandia has its origins in political protest. The music was part of a suite of nationalistic musical tableaux composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a rally in support of freedom of the Finnish press against the increasing censorship from the Russian Empire. Sibelius then revised the final two tableaux to make an orchestral work, premiered in July 1900 in Helsinki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by Robert Kajanus, and performed under various names to avoid censorship. The name Finlandia was first used at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900.
Finlandia is a tone poem; it begins in an ominous moood with rousing turbulent music evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people, then towards the end a calm comes over the orchestra and the serene and melodic Finlandia Hymn is heard.
En Saga Op. 9
En Saga translates as A Fairy Tale, A Saga or A Legend. It is a tone poem, adventurous and evocative in character, variously interpreted as a hunting expedition, a bard's storytelling or simply the essence of the Finnish people. Written for orchestra in a single movement, it was premiered in Helsinki in 1893, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Orchestral Association. A decade later, in 1902, Sibelious revised the work for presentation to a Central European audience in Berlin.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786 - 1826) - Andante e Rondo Ungarese
Weber was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist and guitarist. His family moved around Germany as he was growing up, so he studied under many teachers. Weber is best known for his operas, but he also composed two symphonies, a viola concerto, various piano pieces and many pieces for clarinet, writing for the virtuoso clarinetist Heinrich Baermann.The viola concerto, Andante e Rondo Ungarese translates as Andante and Hungarian Rondo. It was written in 1809 for Weber's brother Fritz. Hungarian simply refers to a style then commoon among street performers in Vienna, used for dramatic effect to create a sense of otherness. The piece was later reworked as a bassoon concerto.
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828) - Symphony No 5 in B-flat major D485
Franz Schubert was a prolific Austrian composer; despite his short life he wrote more than 600 secular vocal works, seven complete symphonies and a large body of piano and chamber music. He is noted for the melody and harmony in his songs and chamber music.Schubert composed the sunny 5th symphony when he was 19. At the time he was a great admirer of Mozart and there is a strong similarity between the opening theme of the second movement and the last movement of Mozart's violin sonata in F major. The symphony received a single performance, given by a private orchestra at the house of one of the composer's friends, then it was rediscovered some 50 years later.
The Concert Charity
In 2022 Marie Curie helped more than 69,000 people directly and reached over two million more. Marie Curie nurses care for people in their homes, giving much-needed respite to overstretched carers. Nine hospices offer the reassurance of specialist care and support in a friendly, welcoming environment - so poeple can feel safe and cared-for in their final months, weeks and days of life.The trusted information and support line help people in their hour of need to feel reassured, informed and empowered to face what's happening in tjheir lives - whther that's terminal illness , caring or bereavement.
The Concert Players
Conductor: Oliver TillFirst Violins
- Tina Bowles (Leader)
- Eva Babjak-Garai
- Rachel Barbanel
- Mary Dentschuk
- Steve Dobson
- Holly Garvey
- Lucy Howie
- Katina Laoutaris
- Catherine Menon
- Lucinda Platt
- Nichola Blakey (Principal)
- Ursula Antolik
- Susan Grayeff
- Jennifer Hind
- Aytaç Mevlit
- Eve Naftalin
- Jak Poore
- Catherine Sides
- Gerry Shortall
- Jan Toporowski
- Geoffrey Irwin (Principal)
- Tom Boswell
- Weiwei Fraser
- Rachel Gibson
- Josephine Tsakok
- Josh Salter (Principal)
- Judith Beishon
- Fiona Dunn
- Hilary Evans
- Tekij Fernandez
- Libby Fogg
- Nicholas Singer
- Sopika Toumazi
- Charlotte Youngs
- Darren Edwards
- Francois Moreau
- Tom Skrinar
- Graeme Scott
- Natalie Ryan
- Sumitra Lahiri
- Ming Li Kong
- Lindsey Glen
- Ian Merryweather
- Rosalind Hedley-Miller
- Louise Johnston
- Susie Hubbard
- Julie Rooke
- Simon Ashdown
- Federico Espinosa
- Mike Dockerty
- Glyn Jones
- Martin Loveridge
- Peter Gough
- Paul Handley
- Rob Heath
- Dominic McGonigal
- David Coronel
- Jak Poore
