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Programme:
Mozart : Overture Magic Flute
Mozart : Concerto for Flute and Harp
Interval of twenty minutes
Next Concert
Saturday 11th July 2015
Cornbow Hall,
Halesowen
Debussy : Prelude a L'après-midi d'un faun
Liszt : Hamlet
Liszt : Les Preludes
Landscapes & Places
Smetana: Vltava from Ma Vlast
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C
Sibelius: Finlandia
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 "Italian"
Tickets and further information
may be obtained by telephoning
0121 550 0956
Candida Bowtell (Harp)
Andrea Perrett (Flute)
The Halesowen Orchestra
Thomas Jarvis (Conductor)
Saturday 21st March 2015
at 7.30 pm
Cornbow Hall,
Halesowen
Acknowledgements:
Jill Withers
Daphne Baker
Leasowes School
Cornbow Hall, Halesowen
Birmingham Central Music Library
Birmingham Conservatoire Library
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The Halesowen Orchestra
Andrea Perrett - Flute
Andrea studied Music at The University College of
Ripon and York St. John and at The Birmingham
Conservatoire.
She has played with many orchestras including
Nottingham Symphony Orchestra and as a soloist has
performed all over the country, and in Europe playing
well known works like the Mozart Flute Concerto,
Chaminade Concertino and the Telemann Triple
Concerto.
She now teaches at Belle Vue Primary School in Stourbridge and in her spare time regularly
performs with orchestras and choirs in the West Midlands.
Candida Bowtell - Harp
Candy Bowtell took up the Harp at the age of 8. She achieved her
performance diploma before leaving school, and went on to study
maths and music at the University of Birmingham. She studies
Harp with Catherine White at the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Throughout her school years, Candy was a member of the
International Harp Ensemble, touring Europe, and playing solos
and ensemble works in many prestigious venues including the
Barbican, the Royal Albert Hall, Albi Cathedral, and at the top of
La Grande Arche in Paris.
Presently, Candy is an active member of the University
Orchestras, CBSO Youth, and the University of Birmingham New
Music Ensemble, and has also been invited to play with various orchestras around the
country, including Kent Sinfonia and Birmingham Philharmonic.
Candy is also a keen percussionist, as well as a mathematician, where her interests lie in
combinatorics, an area of pure maths.
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Violin:
Andrew Birdsall (leader)
Logan Gregory (principal)
Liz Cowley
Peter Halldron
Christabel Harper
Laura Hill
Audrey Jones
Briony Mills
Chloë Skinner
Jenny Smith
Claire Thompson
Dawn Watson
Maria-Angela Wells
Mervyn Worsey
Piccolo:
Melody Morris
Viola:
Jane Clarke (principal)
Trevor Collins
Edmund Dunstan
Alan Hughes
Barbara Taylor
Kathryn Swindells
Bassoon:
Jan Riley
Jill Sparke
Cello:
Carolyn Fathers (principal)
Nick Cooper
Joyce Hodgetts
Julia Mellor
Joanna Statham
Tracey Williams
Flute:
Sue Miles
Sarah Gullick
Trumpet:
Shelley Collins
Roy Burton
Trombone:
Kayleigh Byng
Tony Miller
Oboe:
Julie Billingham
Helen Wynne-Jones
Michelle James (cor anglais)
Clarinet:
Debbie Lovatt
Lorinda Mitchell
Bass Trombone:
Bernard Moses
Tuba:
Ben Jones
Harp:
Candida Bowtell
Roisin Hickey
Horn:
Tom Fathers
Sarah Gee
Stephen Mayes
Tim Overton
Timpani:
Matt Firkins
Percussion:
Ruth Williams
Double Bass:
Philip Worsley
Chairman:
Julie Billingham
Treasurer:
Edmund Dunstan
Secretary:
Shelley Collins
Membership Secretary:
Jenny Smith
Tickets:
Shelley Collins
Publicity:
Alan Hughes and Sue Miles
Website:
Andrew Birdsall
Programme Editor:
Trevor Collins
7
Liszt: Les Preludes
Thomas Jarvis - Conductor
Les Preludes, like many of Liszt’s works, did not reach its final form without undergoing
many revisions and changes in style. The work began life in 1848 as an introduction to a
choral work, The Four Elements, before undergoing many adaptions to finally become the
Symphonic Poem, that we know today, in 1853. The title of the work is derived from a
poem by the French poet, Alphonse de Lamartine, although Liszt admitted that the actual
music bears little resemblance to the themes of war and peace in Lamartine’s poem.
The term, Symphonic Poem, was first coined by Liszt himself in 1854 to refer to
compositions with an accompanying extra-musical programme for the audience to read
before the performance. This following is an extract from Liszt’s original notes to
accompany the work.
“What is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown song whose first solemn note is
tolled by death? The enchanted dawn of every life is love. But where is the destiny on
whose first delicious joys some storm does not break? ... And what soul thus cruelly
bruised, when the tempest rolls away, seeks not to rest its memories in the pleasant calm
of pastoral life? Yet man does not long permit himself to taste the kindly quiet that first
attracted him to nature’s lap. For when the trumpet sounds he hastens to danger’s post,
that in the struggle he may once more regain full knowledge of himself and his strength.”
Programme Notes : Logan Gregory
The Halesowen Orchestra
has been praised for its immense talent, dedication, enthusiasm
and marked professionalism’. We promote three concerts each
season, performing a wide variety of repertoire and styles.
The Orchestra is open to new members. We rehearse weekly on
Monday evenings, and have a reputation for our friendly welcome.
We aim for a good standard, but commitment is more important
than qualifications.
Thomas Jarvis, 23, was brought up in Sheffield and played the trumpet for 6 years in the City
of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. He went on to study Music at the University of Manchester and
graduated with a First Class Honours degree in 2012. He then studied part time for a
Masters in Composition with American composer Dr Kevin Malone, having been awarded a
McMyn Award by the university to continue his studies in Manchester. Now in Birmingham,
he juggles full time classroom teaching with conducting and teaching the trumpet.
Thomas was Ensemble Director and Conductor of the Peak District Wind Band from
2011-2014, and in August 2014 conducted them on a tour of Germany, including in J.S. Bach
’s Thomaskirche, Leipzig to an audience of around 1500. Thomas has conducted in venues
such as Sheffield City Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, RNCM Opera Theatre and the
Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall; groups including the University of Manchester Symphony
Orchestra, the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra; and many soloists including Lara Melda
(2010 BBC Young Musician of the Year).
He took up the post of Conductor of the Halesowen Orchestra in September 2013 and has
great plans to extend the orchestra’s reach and repertoire over the coming years.
More details may be obtained by
telephoning 0121 550 0956
or by visiting our website at:
www.halesowenorchestra.co.uk.
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3
Mozart: Overture - Magic Flute
Debussy: Prelude a L'après-midi d'un faune
On September 28, 1791, Mozart completed his final opera, The Magic Flute, and he
conducted its premiere in Vienna just two days later. It is a great shame that he passed
away so shortly afterwards, unable to witness his opera’s triumph. The opera can hardly
have received greater praise, indeed one particular critic, Neville Cardus, claimed that it
may be the “only opera in existence that might have been composed by God”.
Composed between 1892 and 1894, this work is based upon the poem L’après-midi d’un
faune, by Stéphane Mallarmé. The words of the poem are the words of a faun, a pleasure
loving cross between a man and a goat of Classical mythology. Debussy’s work does not
portray the entire poem, instead it consists of a series of scenes portraying the desires and
dreams of the faun on a hot afternoon as he tires of chasing nymphs and eventually
succumbs to sleep.
The opera contains many influences from Mozart’s background as a Freemason. The slow
sombre chords which open the opera and recur halfway through the overture symbolise
the three knocks on the temple door, part of traditional Masonic ritual. There are numerous
other references to the number three throughout the opera, for instance, the cast includes
three boys, three ladies, three slaves, and three priests.
The overture sets the scene for the main characters of the opera. The slow introduction
representing the weighty decrees of Sarastro and the priests contrasts with the much
lighter and jolly Allegro, which is more indicative of the humbler lives of Papageno and
Papagena.
The work opens with the call of the faun’s flute, and this opening flute passage recurs
seven times throughout the piece. Short phrases blur into one another representing the
hazy passage of the faun’s dreams.
Music of this free and sensuous style was revolutionary at the time and this work heralded
the development of Debussy’s mature style. The premiere of the piece was a huge
success. In the words of the conductor, Gustave Doret, “Suddenly I felt behind my back a
completely captivated public! The triumph was complete, so much so that I did not hesitate
to break the rule forbidding encores. The orchestra was delighted to repeat this work,
which it had come to love and which, thanks to them, the audience had now accepted.”
Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp
In 1778, struggling for funding, Mozart arrived in Paris, seeking a patron from amongst the
French nobles. In order to meet his financial needs Mozart began to teach composition to
various students, one of whom was the daughter of the amateur flautist, the Duc de
Guines. The Duc commissioned a concerto for himself and his daughter, a talented harpist.
Mozart was not particularly enamoured with either of these instruments, however, he
eagerly took the opportunity, aiming to gain favour with the Duc and to possibly gain more
funding.
The concerto follows a typical three movement structure, although, unusually for a
concerto, there is a cadenza in all three movements. The original cadenzas written by
Mozart have unfortunately been lost, and they would have undoubtedly been markedly
different to more recent cadenzas. At the time, the harp was seen as the equivalent of a ‘
plucked piano’, so Mozart’s cadenzas wouldn’t have had the familiar flowing glissandos
associated with later harp music.
The opening allegro is written in conventional sonata form, avoiding wide ranging
emotional expression and counterpoint, as is typical of Mozart’s later concertos. The two
main themes, an opening chordal melody, followed by a more lyrical second theme, are
quickly introduced by the orchestra and then taken up by the two soloists in unison. The
harp and flute take alternate roles as soloist and accompanist throughout the rest of the
movement. Accompanied by the strings, the sharing of roles is continued in the second
movement, although the flute takes a more dominant role until near the end of the
movement where the harp introduces the shared cadenza. The final movement is a lively
rondo, in the style of a gavotte, a popular French court dance at the time.
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Liszt: Hamlet
Liszt’s tenth symphonic poem, Hamlet, is open to various interpretations about its specific
meaning. The original purpose is in little doubt however, as it originated in 1858 as an
Overture to a production of the play. This work, however, does not programmatically follow
the events of the play, rather, as described by Liszt, it explores the conflict between the
characters of Hamlet and Ophelia and their changing emotions.
As with many of his works, Liszt made several changes to his overture and this final
version was not heard until decades after his death. The piece opens slowly with unearthly
muted notes from the horn, and the eeriness is sustained as the rest of the orchestra
enters. The tempo changes throughout the piece, but the gloom and foreboding never lifts
entirely, culminating in the death of Hamlet at the end of the piece.
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