London Consorts of Winds

• Gordon Jacob - Wind in the Reeds
  
• Gioacchino Rossini - Overture from William Tell
• Cristobal Morales - Missa Quaeramus Cum Pastoribus
• Simone Spagnolo - Dizziness and Silence - world premiere
• Antonin Dvorak - Serenade Op. 22 arr. Roger Cawkwell
• J S Bach - Brandenberg Concerto No. 6, Adagio
• Emil Bernard - Divertissement Op. 36 arr. Roger Cawkwell
• John Holland - Misericordium

Traidcraft stall and refreshments in the interval

Programme Notes

Cristobal Morales - Missa Quaeramus Cum Pastoribus

Morales is a Spanish composer from the sixteenth century - the Renaissance - his was some of the first European music to be played in the New World, following the Spanish conquest of central America and the Caribbean. To follows the imitative style typical of the early Renaissance, with voices entering one after another with the same melody. We will be playing the first part of the Mass - Kyrie, Christie, Kyrie

Gordon Jacob (1895-1984) was one of the most popular of British 20th century composers. During his lifetime he composed over 700 pieces of music and wrote several books. Some of his famous compositions are: "Divertimento" for small orchestra (1938) "Double Concerto for Clarinet, Trumpet and Strings" (1976) "Flute Concerto No. 2" (1981) and "Mini Concerto for Clarinet and Strings" (1980)

"Wind in the Reeds" was comissioned by the British Federation of Music Festivals with financial assistance from the Yorkshire Arts Association and it is dedicated to the Federation, who gave its 1st performance at their Summer School in 1993 in Harrogate, Yorkshire. The piece consists of four short pieces:

• March
• Humoreske
• A Childhood Memory
• Ballet Russe

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) composed 40 operas by the age of 37, when he retired at the height of his fame. During the next 40 years of his life he composed only a few short works, which he called "the sins of my old age".

Rossini's overtures were usually composed with material unrelated to the operas that follow. The William Tell overture is different, and uses programmatic elements related to the atmosphere and story-line of the opera - the opening section is reflective, followed by a raging storm, which leads to a pastoral scene and ends with the famous gallop, representing the Swiss people's revolt against Austrian occupation. The opera is based on a play by Friedrich Schiller and was commissioned by the Paris Opera.

This composition aims to depict something almost impossible to represent through the media of music: silence. Dizziness and Silence aims to create the sensation of time passing by while the mind loses its sense of stability and orientation within the music.

The work has three movements, which despict in turn silence, then dizziness, and finally returning to silence. The first movement, despite its lack of pulse, is based on a repeating rhythmic subject, forwards, in reverse and both simultaneously. The concept of dizziness, in the second movement, is provided by faster figuration and constant use of trills. The last movement exploits Webernian pointillism which causes the harmony and the melody to float through the consort without providing intelligible phrases to any one instrument.

The movements are joined together by a harmonic design derived from the first chord of the piece inverted and transposed creating a harmonic chain without apparent destination. Theatrical gestures such as emphasized breathing and percussive key movements add to the atmosphere.

Dvorak wrote two serenades, one for strings and one for a predominantly wind group. This evening we are premi¸ring the first three movements of the String Serenade Op. 22 arranged for ten winds with double bass. The first movement is an easy-going Moderato with a scalic melody in the upper winds which is immediately echoed by the lower instruments. This use of imitation continues throughout the work and must have been a deliberate decision on Dvorak's part. The second movement is a lively Waltz and our finale this evening is the Scherzo.

Back wrote his Brandenberg Concertos for the Elector of Brandenberg, in an attempt to impress him - in effect, they were a job application - unsuccessful. They all combine that sense of an intellectual exploration of the potential of musical ideas, combined with lyrical beauty, so typical of Bach. We will be playing the middle, slow movement, of the sixth concerto.

Emile Bernard was born in Marseilles in 1843 and flourished in Paris up until early last century. His Divertissement Op. 36 was written for the Society of Wind Instruments around 1890 and we are playing the first movement as an overture to the rest of our set. Originally scored for a double wind quintet (rather rare at that time) we have taken the opportunity of adding a double bass part which discreetly supports the bassoons.

This pice was written especially for our Ancient and Modern Consort as part of a larger piece including sections for all the ensembles which form South London Community Music, including Southwark Concert Band and South London Jazz Orchestra. This is the concert premiere.