THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
MUSIC
SCALING THE MUSICAL HEIGHTS
HISTORIC CADOGAN HALL WAS THE VENUE FOR THIS YEAR’S WINTER CONCERT, REVIEWED HERE BY JAY CONNOR (YEAR 12)
W ith its ambitious and diverse programme of musical offerings, the Winter Concert is traditionally one of the highlights of the College’s musical calendar. This year, the concert included performances by the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Band, Chamber Orchestra, Madrigal Choir and Concert Choir, as well as solos from three Year 13 music award holders. The evening began with Madrigal Choir’s performance of A Little Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott. In this exciting choral piece, which infuses a traditional Latin Mass structure with jazz influences, the choir is accompanied by piano, keyboard, drum kit and bass guitar. Next, the Chamber Orchestra accompanied pianist Mike Humphreys in the Allegro from Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor. The movement features a powerful theme and an awe-inspiring cadenza, which Mike interpreted with impressive skill and musicality. The Chamber Orchestra stayed on stage to play two movements from Grieg’s Holberg Suite , named after the Danish-Norwegian playwright Ludvig Holberg. ‘Praeludium’ and ‘Rigaudon’ included fabulous solo performances from Luca Franchi and Yuki Suter on violin and viola respectively, with the group conveying both the brilliant energy and the gentle lyricism which Grieg aimed for in his homage to the titular playwright.
To conclude the first half of the concert, the Symphonic Wind Band performed Equus by Eric Whitacre. Originally commissioned by Gary Green for the University of Miami, this wild ride emulates the fury and majesty of the titular horse, with its weaving themes and contrasting dynamics. Following the interval, violinist Luca Franchi returned to the stage to perform the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra. Luca captured the passion of the piece, fluidly navigating its virtuoso sections and emphasising the beauty of its memorable melodies. The orchestra followed this piece with the first movement of Symphony No 9, ‘From the New World’, in which Dvorak takes American folk melodies as his starting point. He once said ‘all that is needed for a great and noble school of music’ can be found in ‘the melodies of America’; the orchestra communicated the varied emotions of Dvorak’s themes with verve and conviction. In their final piece of the evening, the Symphony Orchestra accompanied Alex Richards in Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto. This work combines classical and jazz motifs and is designed to utilise the clarinet’s full potential, through flutter- tonguing, glissandi and the infamous ‘altissimo C’ (a note so high, it surpasses conventional playing techniques).
THE ORCHESTRA COMMUNICATED THE VARIED EMOTIONS OF DVORAK’S THEMES WITH VERVE AND CONVICTION
Last to take the stage were the singers of the Concert Choir, which is a vast ensemble involving most of the pupils in the Lower School. They were accompanied by piano, cello, saxophone, bass guitar and percussion in their three-piece performance ‘Dulwich goes Medieval’. Each piece was modern while, as the name suggests, taking inspiration from older themes. Concert Choir’s enthusiastic performance concluded an impressively diverse evening of music. On behalf of all the students involved, I would like to thank the staff who helped to organise this fabulous concert. We all appreciate their consistent commitment to the provision of rich co-curricular opportunities.
114
115
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker