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Bulletin No 11, September 2007
Chairman's Report
Last term's FALO opened with Weber's Euryanthe drawing great warmth from all the strings in turn, to be answered by a great blaze from the brass, and there was only time for one movement of Grieg's Symphonic Dances with all their varied lyrical textures of folk tunes under Steve. We ended with a clever selection of our best Enigma Variations of Elgar by John. It was a moving finale with such a much loved work, everyone pitching in with a will. It was sad though to leave Debussy's L'aprÀs-midi d'un faune unfinished earlier, with Nadia playing the flute so beguilingly. It made the rest of us realise how easy listening can be damned hard playing.
As some may already know, since, sadly, both John and Steve wish to lay down their batons after so many stimulating sessions and take up their instruments more, we have to start looking for someone else to lead us, though they are happy to continue to Easter. Meantime their programme for this term is set out with notes below. Also I shall be asking soon for your needs during the Ufton Court weekend of October 12-14th, when we look forward to our usual varied fare.
The membership has been running at 50 with an average attendance last term of 68%, thanks to David Short's record keeping. We shall be pleased to have Steve reinforcing the first violins as Meredith and Jon are expecting their first baby in October, so they have decided to leave. Rolf Waefler on cello has moved away to learn to be a luthier, while Martin Harding on trumpet has gone to work in the USA. However we look forward to Alison Potts coming back after her long illness. We must keep trying to recruit, especially violins.
Socially, the summer "garden" party in Caversham adjourned out of the rain indoors and was much enjoyed by a good number, and now we look forward to the lunch at the Fox & Hounds on December 1st.
Below are the Dates for your diary. Please do put them in when you get home to avoid future confusions and clashes as far as possible. This Bulletin was originally conceived as a fuller sheet than the treasured little strips of thin paper that Raymond used to issue!
Dates for your diary
Winter term: Sep 15th, 22nd, 29th, Oct 6th, Ufton 12-14th, (20th Half term), 27th, Nov 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, Dec 1st, 8th FALO.
Spring term: Jan 5th, (Committee Jan 6th), 12th, 19th, 26th, Feb 2nd, 9th, (16th Half term), 23rd, Mar 1st, 8th, 15th FALO.
Summer term: Apr 12th, 19th, Apr 26th, May 3rd, 10th, 17th, (Half term 24th), 31st, Jun 7th or 14th (depending on date of Holybrook Festival), 21st FALO.
Programme Notes
John Tims writes: Prokofiev - Symphony No. 7
Prokofiev finished his 7th symphony a year before his death in 1953, at the age of 62. It is shorter and lighter in weight than any of his other symphonies, apart from No. 1, the Classical Symphony, with which it shares some features of style. In the late 1940s and early 1950's Prokofiev, in common with Shostakovitch and some other Russian composers, had suffered heavy criticism, being accused of writing music inaccessible to ordinary people. Accordingly, in his final symphony, Prokofiev wrote in a simpler form and with unusually (for him) straightforward harmonies and orchestration. As usual, however, he was unable to restrain himself from jokey moments and comic effects. He
was posthumously awarded a Lenin prize for the piece.
Steve writes: Beethoven - Leonore Overture No. 3, Opus 72
Beethoven’s opera Fidelio was first produced in a 3-act version under
the title Leonore. He struggled to produce an appropriate overture
for the opera, and ultimately he wrote four different versions. His first
attempt, Leonore No. 2, was written for the 1805 premiere but he was
pressured by friends to revise and shorten the opera into just two acts and
re-write the overture. The new overture, Leonore No. 3, was
performed at the 1806 performances and is considered by many listeners as
the greatest of the four. However, its intensely dramatic mood had the
effect of overwhelming the initial scenes of the opera and Beethoven cut it
back further for a performance in Prague. (This version is now called
Leonore No.1.) Finally, for the 1814 revival of his opera Beethoven
began anew, and with fresh musical material wrote what we now know as the
Fidelio overture. The three Leonore
overtures, all in C major, have taken their places in the concert repertory,
though a tradition arose in or about the 1880s of performing No. 3 during
the change of scene in the opera's second act. The most popular of
the versions is No. 3, called by Basil Deane, "the first, and perhaps
the greatest, tone poem."
Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake
Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake was composed in
1875. Like The Nutcracker, Swan Lake was unsuccessful after
its first year of performance. Conductors, dancers and audiences alike
thought Tchaikovsky's music was too complicated and too hard to dance to.
Tchaikovsky mistakenly thought that the ballet’s early failure lay in
his music, although the weakness really lay in the original choreography.
He decided to rewrite the score, but he died in 1893 before he could
completely carry out his plan. Much is unknown
about the original production of Swan Lake – no notes, techniques or
instruction concerning the ballet were written down. It wasn’t until after
Tchaikovsky’s death that Swan Lake
was revived. The Petipa/Ivanov version of Swan Lake that we
consider the "standard" today was in fact created after Tchaikovsky’s death
and greatly altered from the original concept.
MUSICAL MEMORIES was included in this bulletin and can be found on the Individual members page
A final reflection
After a summer of watching and listening to a great range of Proms, and perhaps you have been on stimulating courses, may we, albeit more senior folk, go ahead with the verve and excitement of those many younger players.
Antony