Hayes Symphony Orchestra at St Francis of Assisi Church, London on Saturday 23rd June 2018

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

Hayes Symphony Orchestra

Part of the Hayes Symphony Orchestra 2017-18 Season

Add to my Calendar 23-06-2018 19:30 23-06-2018 21:30 36 Hayes Symphony Orchestra Borodin didn’t write a huge amount of music, probably because his day job was as a distinguished professor of chemistry in St. Petersburg. Even so, he was one of Russia’s greatest composers - his individual gift for melody was such that you can invariably spot a Borodin tune. Many of them, indeed, were re-used in the famous fifties Broadway musical “Kismet”. “Prince Igor”, his one and only opera, tells the epic story of the Russian war against the Polovstian tribe. Its composition cost him great effort over several years, and was left unfinished at his sudden death aged 53. His devoted colleagues Rimsky Korsakov and Glazunov finished it up for performance - and although the whole of the brilliant Overture we hear tonight was put together by Glazunov from the composer’s sketches, its dashing main theme and meltingly lyrical second theme are pure Borodin. Unlike Borodin, the German composer Reinecke lived into his eighties and, as the opus number will tell you, was enormously prolific! Throughout his long career his music looked back to the early romantic style of his friends Mendelssohn and Schumann, rather than the more progressive innovators like Wagner, Mahler or Richard Strauss, and this no doubt is the reason not much of his vast output is played these days. But the last concerto he wrote, this charming one for flute, is an exception - beloved of flautists (who, after all don’t have that many concertos for their instrument) and a beautifully crafted and melodious work, it’s as easy on the ear as it is tricky to play. The concerto is in the usual three movements, and is about twenty minutes long. The first movement is in the standard classical form, the second opens ominously with muffled notes on the timpani, and the finale gives our soloist plenty of opportunity to show off her virtuosity, especially in the helter-skelter closing pages.     By the time he was 30 Brahms was becoming popularly recognised as the anointed successor to Beethoven, who had died six years before Brahms was born. His music was reviving and reinventing the classical forms of his great predecessor, and combining their intellectual mastery with a new romantic power. Unsurprisingly he found this challenge very daunting, especially the writing of a symphony worthy of his public’s expectations of him - a form in which it was assumed he would take over where Beethoven had left off. And the birth pangs of his First Symphony were indeed long and arduous - it’s known that, as the most exacting self-critic, he destroyed several attempts. “You don’t know what it’s like”, he would say, “with HIM looking over your shoulder!” When it finally appeared, when the composer was 43, the First Symphony was indeed a mighty utterance, and recognised at once as the masterpiece it is. Brahms took his cue from Beethoven’s finest symphonies, in which tragedy is finally overcome by triumph. The symphony opens with a solemn introduction which sets the scene for the tragic drama to come, then after a brief pause the first movement sets off with a fierce energy, sustained throughout. The lyrical second movement provides the perfect contrast, its gorgeously rich sonorities including a memorable passage for solo violin. The third movement is not so much the scherzo that Beethoven might have written, more of a gently paced interlude before the drama of the finale. This begins, like the first movement, with an extended slow introduction, leading to another pregnant pause; then the movement begins in earnest with the famous main theme, one of the composer’s most memorable creations. When his critics suggested this wonderful tune sounded more than a bit like the “Ode to Joy” theme in Beethoven’s Ninth, Brahms snapped back “Any fool can see that!” The movement surges on until the final coda which brings this great work to an exultant close. Irish flautist Fiona Kelly has been hailed by the New York Times as a player with “impressive technique and elegant musicianship”. Based in London, Fiona is a highly sought after orchestral player and chamber musician. The youngest of a family of classical musicians, she began her studies at the Cork School of Music with her mother Evelyn Grant and Sabine Ducrot before completing her Bachelor of Music studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, with Anna Noakes. While in London she won numerous awards including 1st Prize in the British Flute Society International Competition, the Royal Overseas League Sussex Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Julius Isserlis Scholarship. On completing her studies in London, she was awarded a scholarship on the Master’s degree course at The Juilliard School, New York, studying with principal flute of the New York Philharmonic, Robert Langevin. While there, she won first prize in The Juilliard School Flute Competition and made her Lincoln Center debut performing Bernstein’s ‘Halil’ with The Juilliard Orchestra and performed as a guest flautist and toured with the New York Philharmonic. Following her Master’s Fiona spent four wonderful years as principal flute of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra from 2012 – 2016, which included highlights such as performing Nielsen Flute Concerto under Andrew Manze and Bach Orchestral Suite No. 2 under Thierry Fischer. Since relocating to London, she has been invited to perform as guest principal flute with orchestras such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the City of London Sinfonia and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Fiona is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Jönköpings Sinfonietta, Irish Chamber Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland in venues such as Köln Philharmonie, Liszt Academy Grand Hall Budapest, Heidelberg Festival and Rheingau Festival. She has performed with the New York based Argento New Music Project and Continuum new music ensemble, and is a founding member of the Moirae Ensemble. Performing in a duo with her sister, harpist Jean Kelly they perform recitals throughout the UK and Ireland and have recorded an album with other London based Irish musicians called “Toss the feathers” with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Highlights of 2018 include her debut at the BBC Proms where she will perform as a soloist in the “Brandenburg Project”. She will perform concertos no. 2 and 5, and perform the UK premieres of companion concertos by Uri Caine and Steven Mackey, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Programme Notes by John Hawks St Francis of Assisi Church, London DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Francis of Assisi Church
Ravenswood Ave
West Wickham
London
BR4 0PW
England

Saturday 23rd June 2018
7:30 PM

Programme

Aleksandr Borodin – Prince Igor: Overture
Carl Reinecke – Flute Concerto, Op.283
~ Interval ~
Johannes Brahms – Symphony no.1 in C minor, Op.68

Performers

Dan James – Conductor
Fiona Kelly – flute

Hayes Symphony Orchestra

Other concerts in this Series (+)

Programme Note

Borodin didn’t write a huge amount of music, probably because his day job was as a distinguished professor of chemistry in St. Petersburg. Even so, he was one of Russia’s greatest composers - his individual gift for melody was such that you can invariably spot a Borodin tune. Many of them, indeed, were re-used in the famous fifties Broadway musical “Kismet”.

“Prince Igor”, his one and only opera, tells the epic story of the Russian war against the Polovstian tribe. Its composition cost him great effort over several years, and was left unfinished at his sudden death aged 53. His devoted colleagues Rimsky Korsakov and Glazunov finished it up for performance - and although the whole of the brilliant Overture we hear tonight was put together by Glazunov from the composer’s sketches, its dashing main theme and meltingly lyrical second theme are pure Borodin.

Unlike Borodin, the German composer Reinecke lived into his eighties and, as the opus number will tell you, was enormously prolific! Throughout his long career his music looked back to the early romantic style of his friends Mendelssohn and Schumann, rather than the more progressive innovators like Wagner, Mahler or Richard Strauss, and this no doubt is the reason not much of his vast output is played these days. But the last concerto he wrote, this charming one for flute, is an exception - beloved of flautists (who, after all don’t have that many concertos for their instrument) and a beautifully crafted and melodious work, it’s as easy on the ear as it is tricky to play.

The concerto is in the usual three movements, and is about twenty minutes long. The first movement is in the standard classical form, the second opens ominously with muffled notes on the timpani, and the finale gives our soloist plenty of opportunity to show off her virtuosity, especially in the helter-skelter closing pages.

By the time he was 30 Brahms was becoming popularly recognised as the anointed successor to Beethoven, who had died six years before Brahms was born. His music was reviving and reinventing the classical forms of his great predecessor, and combining their intellectual mastery with a new romantic power.

Unsurprisingly he found this challenge very daunting, especially the writing of a symphony worthy of his public’s expectations of him - a form in which it was assumed he would take over where Beethoven had left off. And the birth pangs of his First Symphony were indeed long and arduous - it’s known that, as the most exacting self-critic, he destroyed several attempts. “You don’t know what it’s like”, he would say, “with HIM looking over your shoulder!”

When it finally appeared, when the composer was 43, the First Symphony was indeed a mighty utterance, and recognised at once as the masterpiece it is. Brahms took his cue from Beethoven’s finest symphonies, in which tragedy is finally overcome by triumph. The symphony opens with a solemn introduction which sets the scene for the tragic drama to come, then after a brief pause the first movement sets off with a fierce energy, sustained throughout. The lyrical second movement provides the perfect contrast, its gorgeously rich sonorities including a memorable passage for solo violin.

The third movement is not so much the scherzo that Beethoven might have written, more of a gently paced interlude before the drama of the finale. This begins, like the first movement, with an extended slow introduction, leading to another pregnant pause; then the movement begins in earnest with the famous main theme, one of the composer’s most memorable creations. When his critics suggested this wonderful tune sounded more than a bit like the “Ode to Joy” theme in Beethoven’s Ninth, Brahms snapped back “Any fool can see that!” The movement surges on until the final coda which brings this great work to an exultant close.

Irish flautist Fiona Kelly has been hailed by the New York Times as a player with “impressive technique and elegant musicianship”.

Based in London, Fiona is a highly sought after orchestral player and chamber musician. The youngest of a family of classical musicians, she began her studies at the Cork School of Music with her mother Evelyn Grant and Sabine Ducrot before completing her Bachelor of Music studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, with Anna Noakes. While in London she won numerous awards including 1st Prize in the British Flute Society International Competition, the Royal Overseas League Sussex Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Julius Isserlis Scholarship.

On completing her studies in London, she was awarded a scholarship on the Master’s degree course at The Juilliard School, New York, studying with principal flute of the New York Philharmonic, Robert Langevin. While there, she won first prize in The Juilliard School Flute Competition and made her Lincoln Center debut performing Bernstein’s ‘Halil’ with The Juilliard Orchestra and performed as a guest flautist and toured with the New York Philharmonic.

Following her Master’s Fiona spent four wonderful years as principal flute of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra from 2012 – 2016, which included highlights such as performing Nielsen Flute Concerto under Andrew Manze and Bach Orchestral Suite No. 2 under Thierry Fischer.

Since relocating to London, she has been invited to perform as guest principal flute with orchestras such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the City of London Sinfonia and the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Fiona is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Jönköpings Sinfonietta, Irish Chamber Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland in venues such as Köln Philharmonie, Liszt Academy Grand Hall Budapest, Heidelberg Festival and Rheingau Festival. She has performed with the New York based Argento New Music Project and Continuum new music ensemble, and is a founding member of the Moirae Ensemble. Performing in a duo with her sister, harpist Jean Kelly they perform recitals throughout the UK and Ireland and have recorded an album with other London based Irish musicians called “Toss the feathers” with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

Highlights of 2018 include her debut at the BBC Proms where she will perform as a soloist in the “Brandenburg Project”. She will perform concertos no. 2 and 5, and perform the UK premieres of companion concertos by Uri Caine and Steven Mackey, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Programme Notes by John Hawks

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