Michaelmas Concert - Thursday November 22nd
Date: Friday 23 November 2007
Yesterday evening, the St Edmund's Concert Hall echoed to the sound of the School's musicians celebrating the patron saint of music, St Cecilia, in a concert which incorporated all the strengths of the current generation of pupils, from choristers to the elder statesmen, and women, of the Upper Sixth.
The two-hour concert included ten separate, and very different, elements, from the Brass Ensemble which opened proceedings, to the Symphony Orchestra, which brought us to a rousing finale, with Chabrier's 'Marche Joyeuse'. 'Joyeux' it was!
School music is always in a state of transition, as one group of seniors leaves, and a new crop of juniors is inducted into the St Edmund's 'system'. This concert reflected the strength of current seniors, like Jacob Barnes, Harriet Burns, Suzy Jackson, Oliver Jones, et al, and the ease with which the newcomers have already begun to make their mark.
It witnessed, also, the return of Steve Wassell from retirement, to direct the Brass Ensemble, the Brass Quartet, and the Concert Band, which ended the first half of the programme, with Paul Anka's march - the theme from 'The Longest Day'.
Senior Strings offered Dr Braddy's beloved Elgar's 'Salut d'Amour'; Ross Underwood's Big Band began the second half with 'Street Life', in which Suzy Jackson's sax solo stood out;the Chamber Choir sang a trio of Hungarian Folksongs featuring - perhaps strangely - one John Brown!; and, the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Messrs McDade and Payne, gave us Respighi, Beethoven, some interesting Wassail Dances from Yorkshire and Somerset (Philip Lane), and the Chabrier finale.
Highlights were, for most, the solo items, where Harriet Burns sang two sections from Schumann's song cycle 'Frauenliebe und Leben' to a rapt audience, and where Jacob Barnes earned a standing ovation for his bravura performance of Chopin's Scherzo No 2, Op 31.
The evening flew by, and there is a real buzz of anticipation for the next major concert - in the Cathedral next March 6th, when the now traditional Gala Choral and Orchestral Concert will take place - in 2008!
