Oxford University Sinfonietta

It was a cold evening indeed. I was surprised, but pleased, to see that many people had braved the weather to listen to a classical music concert. Wearing our winter apparel and seated on the wooden pews inside St. Mary’s Church, we waited patiently for the concert to begin.

The first piece was “Introduction and Allegro” by Sir Edward Elgar. Certain people describe the piece as Elgar’s finest work. However, in my humble opinion it lags behind Elgar’s Cello Concerto, which is simply magnificent. Notwithstanding, “Introduction and Allegro” is an intense and powerful piece, bearing all the hallmarks of Elgar, and the performance by the youthful orchestra on the night was sufficient to initiate a glow of warmth in the audience.

The second piece was “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland. The orchestra performed the entire ballet admirably well. The piece itself reminds one of a bright and sunny, but cold, morning, birds chirping away: a deep breath of the misty air to refresh the mind and body. Ah, one almost feels glad to be alive. The sole negative is the apparent incongruity of the piano parts. Quel dommage!

After the interval and significant reshuffling of chairs, instruments and members of the orchestra, we listened to “Octandre” by Edgard Varèse. It is an interesting piece, composed of eight instruments, supposedly representative of “eight-stamen flowers”. However, it was dark and seemed to portend of death and destruction as if composed for or by the Grim Reaper. But wait, I am too harsh. The piece perhaps simply requires familiarisation with its melody to engender endorsement.

It was music by Wolfgang Amadeus that lifted us out of the doom and gloom. The final piece was Mozart’s “Prague Symphony”. The three movements were performed extremely well by the orchestra and literally brought a smile to my face. The symphony is a relatively short piece and hence, sadly, it was soon time to depart.

The Oxford University Sinfonietta is composed of students, staff and alumni of the University of Oxford. I am always amazed at the precocious talent of these young musicians. Despite some apparent nervousness at the beginning, the orchestra, under the impressive guidance of James Ross, steadily improved culminating in that great performance of Mozart. Well done, I say.

Samir Mody (Unverified), 30/11/05

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