January Concert 2002
Review by Tommy Lee
The Reading Youth Orchestra recently performed a concert on Saturday the 26th of January at Leighton Park School, Reading.
The Programme was split into two contrasting halves with pieces dating from the late 19th century to the early 20th century in the first half and a performance of Schubert's unfinished symphony in the second half.
The concert opened in style with our performance of Vaughan William's overture to 'The Wasps'. Acclaimed to be his most popular overture, 'The Wasps' was both exiting to play and to listen to. The piece remains bright and tuneful throughout, and the opening flourishes in the strings clearly depict the sound of the wasps. The orchestra then performed three items from William Walton's 'Façade'. These are unique pieces full of wit and satire. Originally composed for only six players whilst a person recited poems by Edith Sitwell, Walton arranged this orchestral suite from the original movements. Our next item was from Elgar's Enigma Variations. 'Nimrod' is possibly the most well known of all his fourteen variations and its grand, awe-inspiring melody ever fails to lift the spirits.
The last item in the first half was Bizet's 'l'Arlesienne' suite. The music was based of Provencal folk music, and before the performance we were treated to a brief introduction from Didier Garcon who comes from the Provencal region in France. While telling us a bit about his region, he also demonstrated how a pipe and tabor are played and gave us a short rendition of the 'Farandole'. This was a real treat for both the orchestra and the audience and I would like to thank him for doing this.
After the interval, the orchestra performed Schubert's 'Symphony No.8 in B minor' The piece was his first attempt at a large scale symphony and it explores a wide range of emotions. It was abandoned in 1822 after he had written only the first two movements, hence it's name - 'the unfinished'. It was not performed until 1965, thirty-seven years after his death It was well received by audiences and has remained popular ever since.
The concert was an extremely enjoyable one, and the contrast of pieces provided an effective programme. The turnout was a little disappointing considering all the hard work and effort put into it, and I would like to encourage more people to come and support us, as there is much enjoyment to be had. I would also like to thank all our guest players who came and played with us on the night and also the staff for their continued help and encouragement.