Bulletin No 2, September 2004
Chairman's Report
Last term we welcomed Steve and John as our conductors in succession to Raymond and I am sure we all agree that last term was a great success. There was a varied programme with a rousing starter of Rossini's Thieving Magpie at FALO and we would love to have lingered longer with Dvorak's melodious Slavonic Dances with Steve, but there more melodies to come, especially for former listener's to Radio Four and Woman's Hour, in John's delightful choice of The Merry Wives of Windsor, but he took us into the 20th century too, with the piquant new harmonies of Prokoviev's Classical Symphony reaching out beyond those of his model, Haydn. Everyone seemed confidently relaxed and to play extraordinarily well finally in front of our friends. It was specially good to see again Leonora and Raymond, who seemed pleased that 'his show goes marching on'.
Dates for your Diary
Autumn term: Rehearsals have resumed on September 18th and 25th and will continue in October 2, 9, 16, and then, after a half-term gap, continue in November 6, 13 (AGM), 20, 27 and December 4 and 11th (FALO). We are sorry that our booking with Ufton in mid-October has not held and the only remaining weekend, the first in November, would exclude too many key people involved in other concerts. The first weekend in March 5th- 6th has been offered and so far no one has foreseen an objection. It would be good to know whether a majority favour taking up this offer or if they still feel that the Ufton weekend is an important event on our calendar. As for social events, Lynne is exploring the possibility of a pub lunch in a room at the Fox & Hounds on 4th December before FALO at Beansheaf on 11th December. Would there be support for skittles in the spring 2005 - even a barn dance again?
Recent Committee Meeting
Finances are sound, thanks to David Short's careful stewardship. Steve reported unpredictable attendance but is grateful that everyone keeps him informed of absences. Alison has been putting revamped posters in libraries and our web address has gone into The Reading Guide (www.readingguide.co.uk) and remains on the Evening Post (www.get-reading.co.uk), so we will hope to catch more recruits.
Annual General Meeting
This will be held on November 13th. We are grateful to Shirley for her good work as Secretary and Webmaster, but she would like to stand down this term. We would be glad to have volunteers to relieve her of both posts.
New Members
We welcome two new members. Elizabeth Hudson joins us from Patsy's orchestra having taken up her viola again in retirement, and Jill Hopkins makes a telling addition too with her bass clarinet, especially in the Liadov.
Janet Hodgson (oboe) who we were pleased to see at Raymond's Farewell expressed an interest in playing again, especially when Thierry is tossed around the world by his work at short notice so often. However she finds herself too busy now, planning to get married again on November 6th . Colin whom she brought along to Ufton is an old friend from student days with her late husband, Andrew, and he is godfather to their children. We must wish them all happiness, and send a card.
Notes on some of this term's Programme
Balakirev - 1st Symphony in C major Steve writes:
Balakirev (1837-1910) was a leading Russian nationalist composer. He is perhaps best known for leading a group of nationalist composers called Moguchaya Koochka, literally "The Mighty Handful", better known as the "The Five" which included Borodin, Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky Korsakov and himself. Balakirev was the only one of the group to begin as a professional musician.
Balakirev's success as a composer was mixed. Some put it down to his difficult personality. He was particularly opposed to the establishment of conservatories of music in Russia by the Rubinstein brothers and was accused in turn of amateurism. As a champion of nationalism he wrote a number of works based on Russian folk themes and arranged many Russian folk songs. His best known works are the piano fantasy Islamey, the overture Russia, and the symphonic poem Tamara. He also wrote two symphonies, piano concertos, chamber music, choral works and many songs. In 1855 he moved to St Petersburg where he met and was encouraged by Glinka, and for a brief period was a concert pianist.
Balakirev's first symphony is made up of the traditional four movements. A Russian church melody (on the flute) is combined with another theme at the start of the first movement. The second movement (rather than the traditional third) takes the form of a scherzo while Russian folk tunes are used in the finale. It is a few years since we last tackled this symphony. I wanted to revisit it because of the intricacies of the first movement and the beautiful, haunting melodic line (which first appears on the clarinet) in the third movement.
Overture Egmont, Op.84 - Beethoven John writes:
In 1810, Beethoven wrote the overture and incidental music to Goethe's historical drama which deals with the unsuccessful rebellion of the Netherlands, led by Count Egmont, against the colonial power of Spain in the Netherlands. This culminated in Egmont's beheading in 1576.
The overture is not based on specific actions in the play, but gives a generalised character study of the facets of Egmont's character, amongst which nobility and military powers are clearly evident.
Kikimora - Liadov (1855-1914)
Anatoly Liadov was born into a musical family, his father being a well known conductor. His early proficiencies eventually led him to a post at the Conservatory. However, he was a timid man whose indecisiveness was exceeded only by his monumental idleness. He had great talent but never summoned up strength to write anything lasting more than a few minutes. Often, he failed to turn up for his teaching assignments.
When Diaghilev was looking for a composer for Firebird, Liadov was approached but as he was unable to make up his mind the choice fell on Stravinsky.
In the world of exquisite miniatures, Liadov comes into his own. The subjects are often based on Russian folk legend. Kikimora is an evil spirit in the form of a woman, tall and dark, but her head is only the size of a thimble! She is noisy, she rattles things, she whistles and hisses. She spins hemp; she also spins evil things for humanity.
Further News & Reflections
Some of you may have done an O or A level in music or Grade 5 Theory,
but many of us have not. I am glad to have learned my scales and chords because I was
taught they helped sight reading, but trying to learn harmony and counterpoint left me
feeling it would never be more than an academic, paper exercise. Yet a retired accountant,
who became a senior lecturer in Art History and only recently joined a choir, joined the
Open University with enthusiasm and is harmonising a Bach chorale this week! This week I
talked to a charismatic lecturer, Laurence Roman, at Reading College about his course in
Music History & Musicology, offered free if you are prepared to attend Mondays and Tuesday
10 till 6, with great insights into the 20th century too.
(roman@reading-college.ac.uk))
Any takers? I have a detailed copy of the course prospectus to show you.
With all best wishes for the term,
Antony