Conductor’s Notes – 21st November

Hi all, I hope you’ve had a great week, and I’m looking forward to cracking on with our new repertoire over the next few weeks before we break for Christmas.

What we did on Monday 21st November

We carried on from Monday 14th and looked at Borodin’s Symphony No. 2, doing some really good work on Movements 1, 2, & 4. It was great to do such good ensemble work on these, and to have some fun playing through music we don’t normally get to do. Thank you for your hard work in these rehearsals, and I hope you all got something from it – I certainly did!

What we’ll do on Monday 28th November

Now we’ll begin the work on our Spring concert, this week looking at Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Having played the Allegretto in the last concert, we’ll be looking at the other movements to begin with.
* Trombones, I’m very sorry that I’ve not yet had time to do your parts for the Beethoven, so I hope you don’t mind taking this week off. *

In December we’ll have the rest of the music for the concert, so will look at that then.

“The Joy of Spring” – Full Programme

Just a reminder of all of the details for our next concert, including the programme, dates, and venues:

Programme
Karelia Suite – Jean Sibelius
Excerpts from The Wand of Youth Suites 1 & 2 – Edward Elgar
Suite 1: I. Overture
Suite 1: II. Serenade
Suite 2: I. March
Suite 2: III. Moths and Butterflies
Suite 2: V. The Tame Bear
Suite 2: VI. The Wild Bear
-Interval-
Symphony No. 7 – Ludwig van Beethoven

Date
Saturday 18th March, 2023

Venues
Rehearsals: The Anstice, Madeley
Concert: St Michael’s Church, Madeley

Other Events

Our friends over at Bridgnorth Sinfonia have their concert coming up on Saturday 17th December. Please find the poster below, and go along to support another local orchestra.

This Week’s Listening

I’m going to keep sharing pieces that interest and inspire me, or are just brilliant pieces of music that I think you should all hear. This week’s is the latter, and I’m sure some of you will know it already; Fauré’s incredible Requiem. I’m performing this this weekend with one of my choirs, and I absolutely adore the piece. If you have time, do give it a listen all the way through. If not, enjoy the opening movement Introit et Kyrie HERE.

Have a great weekend, and see you on Monday.
–Ben