Concert Programme:
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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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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