Saturday 15th June 2013
Review of the concert by Philip Worth:
Saturday 15th June saw the welcome return of the Dacorum Sinfonietta to music making after too long an absence. In essence the Sinfonietta is a small ensemble of musicians culled from the ranks of the DSO with mainly two objectives in view: (1) to perform pieces requiring fewer musical instruments, and (2) to give individual players opportunities to display their talents which might not be so apparent in the full orchestra. By definition sinfonietta work makes more demands on players but on the whole DSO Sinfonietta has, in the past, risen to the challenge admirably. On this occasion their performance positively glowed. There could have been no more joyous start than The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Handel’s Oratorio Solomon. Its majestic regal tone and sheer exuberance have lifted it out of context and established it as a hugely popular concert piece in its own right. Handel composed over forty operas and, although perhaps not performed as frequently today , they are a source of musical gems such as Sheba , earning Handel from no less discerning an audience than the Florentine the soubriquet Caro Sassone (‘the Dear Saxon’) – reference to the composer’s German origins.
In quieter mode the Sinfonietta played next Elgar’s Serenade For Strings. This was an early work of the composer’s, but already it bears some of the hallmarks of his mature work – the confident, flowing melodic line and the ‘English’ flavour of the piece. Above all Elgar makes the strings, unsupported by other instruments, sing out with a unique voice as did similar works by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak, for example. The Sinfonietta played the piece with the richness of tone which the composer could command with any combination of instruments. The hours spent by the boy Elgar trying out every instrument in his father’s music shop and the scores he studied on his solitary jaunts in the Malvern Hills must have helped to make him the master of orchestration he later became.
The bright and sparkling Flute Concerto in A of Mozart provided the delicious contrast in mood which Tom Loten’s excellent programming achieved. The flute with its inimitable tone enabling it to rise at times above all other sounds – rather like the skylark soaring aloft – has been a favourite weapon in the orchestral armament since early days, and the giants of classical music – Bach, Handel, Hadyn, Mozart – have all written copiously for it. In the hands of masters like James Galway and soloist Michael Cox the flute seems to attract virtuosic brilliance. So it did on this occasion – no more needs be said!
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French composer Charles Gounod bequeathed to posterity much sombre, albeit tuneful, music. The religious mysticism of his earlier years led him to contemplate taking Holy Orders but this did not materialize. However, the experience powerfully influenced his subsequent composition which included hymns, anthems and oratorios. On the darker side the opera Faust features Mefistopheles as a leading character, with his devilish interference throughout the hero’s life span. But in 1885 a little ray of sunshine in the shape of the Petite Symphonie broke through the clouds. This work takes the form of a wind ensemble and provides outlets for horns, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; the flute brings the strength of the ensemble to nine players and performs an extended passage of melting beauty. But that said the Petite Symphonie is a sparkling, outgoing work with no dark shadows or Mefistophelian back-room intrgues!
Appropriately for a mild June evening the music became gently meditative again, with two short pieces by Frederick Delius – “ On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring” and “Summer Night On The R iver”. A poet in sound this composer abjured the baroque and classical styles so far as his own work was concerned – “too many notes” was the manner he strove to steer clear of, using broad masses of sound and soaring or falling legatos blending with one another as on an artist’s palette. The net result is a kind of parallel universe into which Delius invites us to escape, where all is lyrical and gently poignant. The Sinfonietta’s clarinet gave us a very convincing “cuckoo” to end the first piece.
Bela Bartok rounded off the concert in exhilarating and toe-tapping style with his Romanian Folk Dances. Required by the composer to be played without a break and in four minutes flat the Sinfonietta strove enthusiastically to meet these targets but your reviewer lost count and simply sat back and enjoyed the gypsy romance of it all! This gem of a concert left us all with the earnest hope that the DSO Sinfonietta is well and truly “back on the case” with unpaid performers who simply love music making. But the success of this occasion must also have been largely due to the congenial nature of the venue. Heavenly countryside, space, comfort, a kind of cosy elegance and, above all from the Sinfonietta’s point of view, superb acoustics, make of the Hastoe Village Hall a community centre to die for. It’s in the market for functions of all kinds. Ring 01442 768191 for further information.
Saturday 15th June saw the welcome return of the Dacorum Sinfonietta to music making after too long an absence. In essence the Sinfonietta is a small ensemble of musicians culled from the ranks of the DSO with mainly two objectives in view: (1) to perform pieces requiring fewer musical instruments, and (2) to give individual players opportunities to display their talents which might not be so apparent in the full orchestra. By definition sinfonietta work makes more demands on players but on the whole DSO Sinfonietta has, in the past, risen to the challenge admirably. On this occasion their performance positively glowed. There could have been no more joyous start than The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Handel’s Oratorio Solomon. Its majestic regal tone and sheer exuberance have lifted it out of context and established it as a hugely popular concert piece in its own right. Handel composed over forty operas and, although perhaps not performed as frequently today , they are a source of musical gems such as Sheba , earning Handel from no less discerning an audience than the Florentine the soubriquet Caro Sassone (‘the Dear Saxon’) – reference to the composer’s German origins.
In quieter mode the Sinfonietta played next Elgar’s Serenade For Strings. This was an early work of the composer’s, but already it bears some of the hallmarks of his mature work – the confident, flowing melodic line and the ‘English’ flavour of the piece. Above all Elgar makes the strings, unsupported by other instruments, sing out with a unique voice as did similar works by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak, for example. The Sinfonietta played the piece with the richness of tone which the composer could command with any combination of instruments. The hours spent by the boy Elgar trying out every instrument in his father’s music shop and the scores he studied on his solitary jaunts in the Malvern Hills must have helped to make him the master of orchestration he later became.
The bright and sparkling Flute Concerto in A of Mozart provided the delicious contrast in mood which Tom Loten’s excellent programming achieved. The flute with its inimitable tone enabling it to rise at times above all other sounds – rather like the skylark soaring aloft – has been a favourite weapon in the orchestral armament since early days, and the giants of classical music – Bach, Handel, Hadyn, Mozart – have all written copiously for it. In the hands of masters like James Galway and soloist Michael Cox the flute seems to attract virtuosic brilliance. So it did on this occasion – no more needs be said!
**************************************************
French composer Charles Gounod bequeathed to posterity much sombre, albeit tuneful, music. The religious mysticism of his earlier years led him to contemplate taking Holy Orders but this did not materialize. However, the experience powerfully influenced his subsequent composition which included hymns, anthems and oratorios. On the darker side the opera Faust features Mefistopheles as a leading character, with his devilish interference throughout the hero’s life span. But in 1885 a little ray of sunshine in the shape of the Petite Symphonie broke through the clouds. This work takes the form of a wind ensemble and provides outlets for horns, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; the flute brings the strength of the ensemble to nine players and performs an extended passage of melting beauty. But that said the Petite Symphonie is a sparkling, outgoing work with no dark shadows or Mefistophelian back-room intrgues!
Appropriately for a mild June evening the music became gently meditative again, with two short pieces by Frederick Delius – “ On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring” and “Summer Night On The R iver”. A poet in sound this composer abjured the baroque and classical styles so far as his own work was concerned – “too many notes” was the manner he strove to steer clear of, using broad masses of sound and soaring or falling legatos blending with one another as on an artist’s palette. The net result is a kind of parallel universe into which Delius invites us to escape, where all is lyrical and gently poignant. The Sinfonietta’s clarinet gave us a very convincing “cuckoo” to end the first piece.
Bela Bartok rounded off the concert in exhilarating and toe-tapping style with his Romanian Folk Dances. Required by the composer to be played without a break and in four minutes flat the Sinfonietta strove enthusiastically to meet these targets but your reviewer lost count and simply sat back and enjoyed the gypsy romance of it all! This gem of a concert left us all with the earnest hope that the DSO Sinfonietta is well and truly “back on the case” with unpaid performers who simply love music making. But the success of this occasion must also have been largely due to the congenial nature of the venue. Heavenly countryside, space, comfort, a kind of cosy elegance and, above all from the Sinfonietta’s point of view, superb acoustics, make of the Hastoe Village Hall a community centre to die for. It’s in the market for functions of all kinds. Ring 01442 768191 for further information.