Christmas Concert 2024
Conductor: Oliver Till
Leader: Tina Bowles
In association with the Tottenham Community Choir, Conductor: Nicki WilliamsonProgramme:
Coleridge-Taylor - The Bamboula
Vaughan Williams - Concerto for Bass Tuba - Soloist Adam Collins
Scott - The Rowan Tree
Prokofiev - Cinderella's Waltz and Midnight from 'Cinderella'
Chaminade - Concertino for flute and orchestra - Soloist Graeme Scott
Borodin - Polovtsian Dances from 'Prince Igor'
London Medical Orchestra is joined by Tottenham Community Choir, and two fantastic soloists, Adam Collins (tuba) and Graeme Scott (flute), for a spectacular Christmas concert in aid of a good cause.
Classics by Vaughan Williams and Prokofiev are performed alongside rarities by Coleridge-Taylor and Chaminade, and ending with the bombastic Polovtsian Dances for chorus and orchestra from Borodin's opera 'Prince Igor', guaranteed to raise the roof.
Funds were raised for improvements to St. Mellitus hall from ticket and refreshment sales.
Programme Notes
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912): The Bamboula
A bamboula is a type of drum, originating in Africa, made from a rum barrel with a skin stretched over one end. The name also describes a dance accompanied by the music of these drums.
Coleridge-Taylor was a British composer and conductor of mixed-race birth. He studied at the Royal College of Music, then toured the US where he achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the 'African Mahler'. He championed traditional African music, and 'The Bamboula'. published in 1911, depicts a dance brought to America and the Caribbean by African slaves.
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958): Concerto in f minor for Bass Tuba and Orchestra
An English composer, Vaughan Williams works include nine symphonies, operas, ballets, vocal and chamber music. He was strongly influenced by Tudor music and English fold song.This concerto, written in 1954 for Philip Catelinet, was the first for solo tuba. Initially it was viewed as eccentric, but soon became one of Vaughan Williams most popular works and an essential part of the tuba repertoire.
Cècile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (1857 - 1944): Concertino for Flute and Orchestra
Chaminade was born near Paris and taught piano by her mother. Her father forbade her to attend the Conservatoire, but she was taught privately and progressed to giving salon performances of her own compositions. She went on to perform throughout France, in continental Europe, England and the US. She received numerous awards, culminating in the Légion d'Honneur in 1913, the first for a female composer.Chaminade composed the Flute Concertino in 1902; legend has it that she wrote it for an ex-lover, making it deliberately difficult. Originally it was a flute and piano piece, but not long after she orchestrated it for a concert in London.
Sergei Surgeyevich Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Selections from "Cinderella"; Cinderella's Waltz and Midnight
Prokofiev is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th Century. Initially, he made his name as a composer-pianist, achieving notoriety with a series of ferociously dissonant and virtuosic piano works. He came to prominence when he was commissioned by Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes; the resulting ballets caused a sensation among both critics and colleagues.The ballet "Cinderella" is based on the 1697 fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault and was composed between 1940 and 1944.
Alexander Borodin (1833 - 1887): Polovtsian DAnces from "Prince Igor"
The Russian composer, Borodin was a doctor and chemist by profession; indeed he regarded these as his primary occupations and made important early contributions to organic chemistry.His unfinished opera, "Prince Igor" was based on a 12th Century epic poem, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". At the end of the second act Prince Igor and his son Vladimir are taken prisoner by the Polovtsian leader, who entertains them lavishly and calls upon his slaves to perform the thrilling dances. (The Polovtsians were fierce nomadic warriers from present-day southern Russia.)
The Polovtsian Dances have had a longer life outside the opera, firstly presented by Diaghilev as part of his Russian Season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in May 1909. More recently, they appear in popular culture; for example in the 1953 musical "Kismet", and the song "Stranger in Paradise", is adapted from the "Gliding Dance of the Maidens".
Colin John Scott: The Rowan Tree
The Rowan Tree was commissioned in 2013 by The Stenton Singers, a community choir based in East Lothian. Although originally written for choir and piano, Colin recently orchestrated this song for this evening's concert.The Soloists
Adam Jibran Collins - Tuba Solo
Adam is a London-based multi-instrumentalist and workshop leader. Having mixed British and Arabic heritage, his earliest musical memories are hearing the darbuka being played at Libyan weddings, learning English and Irish folk tunes as a fiddle player in sessions and Irish summer schools, and listening to his Grandma play Beethoven on the piano on the family farm outside Tripoli. Alongside performing and recording with many of the UK's leading orchestras, Adam devotes much of his enery to community music-making projects, including leading a weekly music group for local families with toddlers.Graeme Scott: Flute Solo
Graeme has been a keen amateur flute player for over 45 years. He has played flute and piccolo with many of the major London amateur symphony orchestras and has been Principal Flute with LMO since 2018. He also plays with the Central Band of the Royal British Legion, appearing in performances across SE England. Despite his many years of playing this was Graeme's debut as a soloist with the orchestra.The Concert Players
Conductor: Oliver TillFirst Violins
- Tina Bowles (Leader)
- Rachel Barbanel
- Mary Dentschuk
- Steve Dobson
- Holly Garvey
- Catherine Menon
- Mary Nicholls
- Steve Rowlinson
- Máire Sloman
- Nichola Blakey (Principal)
- Ursula Antolik
- Leila Boushehri
- Poppy Boyd-Taylor
- Mark Bullard
- Weiwei Fraser
- Susan Grayeff
- Aytaç Mevlit
- Cat Pollock
- Gerry Shortall
- Jan Toporowski
- Michiko Ward
- Bronwen Whitaker
- Geoffrey Irwin (Principal)
- Tom Boswell
- Nigel Franklin
- Rachel Gibson
- Jamie Masters
- Hannah Style
- Josh Salter (Principal)
- Hilary Evans
- Libby Fogg
- Hannah Franklin
- Shirley Franklin
- Janet Hermann
- Helen Mabelis
- Darren Edwards
- Francois Moreau
- Jen Morgan
- Nick Ibba
- Graeme Scott
- Isi Caetano da Rocha
- Sumitra Lahiri
- Ming Li Kong
- Ming Li Kong
- Lindsey Glen
- Ian Merryweather
- Rosalind Hedley-Miller
- Louise Johnston
- Rachel Hurst
- Simon Ashdown
- Tom Brett
- Susie Hubbard
- Julie Rooke
- Glyn Jones
- Charlotte Webb
- Chris Dicken
- Konstantin Shemetov
- Rob Heath
- Stephen Brassett
- Stuart Delve
- Joanna Cheng
- Sharon Moloney
- Jak Poore
- Tim Saxby
- Joanna Cheng
- Anna Phillips
