Spring Concert 2023 at St Mellitus
Conductor - Oliver Till
Leader - Tina Bowles
In aid of Rare Dementia Support
Concert Programme:
- interval -
London Medical Orchestra’s Spring concert explored Harmonious Islands, both real and magical, safe and dangerous.... Breath-taking works by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov, Bax, Lyadov and Debussy are introduced by our conductor Oliver Till. 
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Programme Notes
Jakob Felix Mendelssohn Bartoldy (1809 - 1847) - The Hebrides (overture)
Mendelssohn was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor. He first visited Britain in 1829 and went to Scotland where he began working on his 3rd symphony, the 'Scottish'. On an excursion to the island of Staffa, he visited the basalt sea cave known as 'Fingal's Cave'. It was reported that he was so affected he immediately jotted down an opening theme. He composed the work as a concert overture the following year, then after revision it was premiered in London on 14th May 1832. The overure is sometimes entitled 'Fingal's Cave', as a later publication in 1834 gave it this name. The piece depicts a mood and sets a scene, making it an early example of a musical tone poem.Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) - Isle of the Dead, Op 29 in A minor
Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and one of the last great Russian Romantic composers.
In 1907, while in Paris, he saw a black and white reproduction of a painting by Swiss symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin called Isle of the Dead, This provided him with the inspiration to write this symphonic poem, premiered in Moscow in April 1909. The music begins by depicting the sound of oars as a solitary rowboat carries a coffin to the desolate rocky island. Fragments of the Dies Irae, the Latin chant of the dead, allude to death as tension builds.
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (1883 - 1953) - Tintagel
Bax was an English composer, poet and author. He wrote songs, choral music, chamber pieces and solo piano pieces, but is best know for his symphonic poem 'Tintagel'.
In summer 1917 he visited Tintagel Castle on the north Cornish coast with his lover, the pianist Harriet Cohen. He was inspired to write this symphonic poem, an impression of the cliffs and castle of Tintagel and the sea "on a sunny but not windless summer day". The work was dedicated to Cohen and premeiered in Bournemouth in October 1921.
Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855 - 1914) - The Enchanted Lake Op 62
Born in St Petersburg, Lyadov was a Russian composer, teacher and conductor.
The Enchanted Lake, subtitled "fairy tale scene" is a symphonic poem, reputedly Lyadov's favourite composition. "How picturesque it is", he wrote to a friend, "how clear. the multidue of stars hovering over the mysteries of the deep. But above all, no entreaties and no complaints; only nature - cold, malevolent and fantastic as a fairy tale. One has to feel the change of the colours, the chiaroscuro (light and shade), the incessantly changeable stillness and seeming immobility." The work was premiered in Febrauary 1909 in St Petersburg.
Claude Debussy (1862 - 1818) - L'Isle Joyeuse - (Achille)
French composer, Debussy, first studied the piano, but went on to find a vocation in innovative composition. He took many years to develop his mature style and was nearly 40 before he achieved international fame. His acclaimed ability was in transforming one genre of art, French Impressionist painting, into music. L'Isle Joyeuse, was an example of this, composed in 1904 for solo piano.
The version performed in this concert was orchestrated by the Italian conductor Bernardino Molinari with Debussy's permission. The orchestral version had its debut in 1923.
The Concert Charity
Rare Dementia Support (RDS), funded by the National Brain appeal (charity reg.290173) provides specialist social, emotional and practical support services for individuals living with, or affected by, a rare dementia diagnosis. RDS currently supports 4,500 people each year in the UK through online and face-to-face support groups. For more information, please visit www.raredementiasupport.org
The Concert Players
Conductor: Oliver TillFirst Violins
- Tina Bowles (Leader)
- Rachel Barbanel
- Dominie Craddock
- Mary Dentschuk
- Steve Dobson
- Lucy Howie
- Katina Laoutaris
- Nichola Blakey (Principal)
- Ursula Antolik
- Poppy Boyd-Taylor
- Susan Grayeff
- Jennifer Hind
- Eve Naftalin
- Lucinda Platt
- Jan Toporowski
- Brontë Ye
- Gareth Hamill (Principal)
- Tom Boswell
- Nigel Franklin
- Rachel Gibson
- Jamie Masters
- Josephine Tsakok
- Josh Salter (Principal)
- Judith Beishon
- Hilary Evans
- Tekij Fernandez
- Hannah Franklin
- Helen Mabelis
- Nicholas Singer
- Charlotte Youngs
- Darren Edwards
- Francois Moreau
- Tom Skrinar
- Graeme Scott
- Natalie Ryan
- Mo Talukder
- Sumitra Lahiri
- Ming Li Kong
- Adrian Hall
- Lindsey Glen
- Ian Merryweather
- Rita Porzi
- Rita Porzi
- Louise Johnston
- Rosalind Hedley-Miller
- Eugene Lewis
- Susie Laker
- Julie Rooke
- Simon AShdown
- Grace Watkinson
- Mike Dockerty
- Glyn Jones
- Charlotte Webb
- Rob Heath
- Michael Simpson
- Dominic McGonigal
- Stuart Delve
- Alex Fleming
- Sharon Moloney
- David Brookman
- Llwelyn Ifan Jones
