Christmas Concert 2009

Saturday 12 December 2009

St Marys Church, Banbury

A Family Christmas Festival of Music

in association with The Rotary Club of Banbury

Programme 1

Welcome to our concert!

Hello and welcome to our Family Christmas Concert 2009 (In association with The Rotary Club of Banbury)

A Programme of Seasonal Music and Christmas Carols.

Carols: A Selection from David Willcocks Arrangements of : God Rest

You Merry, O Come All Ye Faithful, Unto Us A Son is Born, The First

Nowell, Hark The Herald Angels.

Elegy, for Charles Harrison. The first performance of a new work in

honour of Orchestra member and friend Charles Harrison. Composed

by Nick Planas.

Polovetsian Dances, from 'Prince Igor' - Alexander Borodin, arranged

by Borodoin and Rimsky Korsakoff.

Night on Bare Mountain - Fantasy - Modest Mussorgsky,

Orchestrated and arranged by Rimsky Korsakoff.

Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson

Christmas Festival Overture - Leroy Anderson

Skaters Waltz - Emil Waldteufel, Arranged by Alfred Pfortner.

'Roses from the South', Waltz - Johann Strauss, Op. 388

'Rudolf the Rednose Reindeer' - Composed by Jonny Marks, arranged

for Orchestra by Nicholas Hare.

Paul Willett Conductor

Paul Willett studied violin, singing and piano as

a student but his main instrument was the

French horn. When Paul was 16, he gained his

Performance Diploma from The Royal College

of Music playing French horn. Paul then went

on to read music on scholarship at The Queens

College, Oxford, and studied for his teaching

certificate in Music and Physical Education at

Reading University.

For several years Paul combined teaching and freelance playing. He has given solo

recitals and performed concertos throughout the country. He was a member of The

Five Winds, a group that performed both at home and abroad, and also on BBC

radio. Paul also worked as a brass teacher for Oxfordshire Music Service and was

director of a Saturday Music School of 200 students.

Paul now combines class teaching with conducting various ensembles, both adult

and youth. He is also in demand as an adjudicator for both adult and student

competitions. Paul is currently Acting Assistant Head Teacher at Didcot Girls School.

Anna Fleming - Leader

Anna was born in South Africa where she started

playing the violin at the age of ten. While studying

music at secondary school, Anna became a member of

the South African National Youth Orchestra. After

successfully completing her music degree, majoring in

orchestral studies, Anna joined the Cape Philharmonic

Orchestra in 1992.

Anna moved to England in late 1996. Keen to continue

her orchestral playing, Anna joined the Banbury Symphony Orchestra in 1997 and

became the leader of the orchestra in 2000, a post that she has held ever since. As a

committed Christian, Anna plays an active role in church music. Focusing primarily

on private violin tuition, Anna particularly enjoys helping adults to learn to play and

she can be contacted on 01295 780017.

NICK PLANAS, 1959

Since 2000, Nicks life has consisted entirely of

composing, performing and teaching music. As

the son of a professional clarinet and saxophone

player, Nick learnt to play music at an early age

on a variety of instruments, but only began his

formal musical education aged 11, studying the

flute privately under Geoffrey Hall and

Christopher Taylor. At the same time, greatly

influenced by his father who would sit and go

through whole scores of orchestral music with

him, he began to compose music, which remains

his true passion. He has had many of his works

performed, including four orchestral suites, two operas, three musicals and several

chamber and jazz pieces.

Nick has just completed a Dance Musical, Hare & Tortoise, which will be performed

in November by the Starlight Dance Academy. Current and future projects include a

work for solo bass clarinet for former Banbury Young Musician Lucy Downer, a piano

concerto and a marimba concerto.

Nick is a member of the British Music Writers Council, and plays flute and piccolo

with the Banbury Symphony Orchestra. He is also a guest musical director for the

Banbury Operatic Society and their youth arm YOBOS, and recently conducted Jesus

Christ Superstar with the Musical Youth Company of Oxford. He also directs a

number of orchestras and ensembles in Northamptonshire.

The BSO has previously performed four of Nicks works: A Nightful of Fleeting

Dreams (2002), A Midsummer Nights Dream Suite (2006) and a short light-hearted

Christmas piece, Dance of the Elves (2007), and he was delighted when, in July 2008

they premiered Banbury 400 under the baton of Paul Willett, celebrating 400 years

of the Banbury Charter.

Nick lives in Brackley with his wife and daughters.

CAROLS

A Selection from David Willcocks Arrangements of: God Rest You Merry, O Come All

Ye Faithful, Unto Us A Son is Born, The First Nowell, Hark The Herald Angels.

Sir David Valentine Willcocks CBE MC (born 30 December 1919) is a British choral

conductor, organist, and composer.

He is particularly known for his widely-used choral arrangements of Christmas

carols, most of which were originally written for the Service of Nine Lessons and

Carols at King's or the Bach Choir's Christmas concerts. They are published in the

five Carols for Choirs anthologies (19611987), edited by Willcocks with Reginald

Jacques and John Rutter. He is currently Music Director Emeritus of King's College

Choir, and an Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.

ELEGY

to the memory of Charles Harrison

Charles Harrison played the horn with the orchestra for many years, and I had

several pleasant chats with him over this time. This piece is intended simply as an

Elegy to Charles memory, and is not an attempt to describe his life or character.

There are, however, a few features which pay direct homage to him, one being the

number of bars (67) which corresponds to the years of his life, and also the fact that

the horn section plays the main theme of the work, often in a four part

arrangement.

Every instrument has the opportunity to speak in the piece (to pay its own homage

to Charles), so when the second theme appears at Bar 26 it is played firstly on the

flutes, then oboes, then after a few bars, by the trumpets, then bassoons, then

clarinets, then strings and tuned percussion. The vibraphone is also a significant

factor in this music; this is an instrument which is a recent addition to the modern

day symphony orchestra. There is also a soundswirl in bars 31 and 32, where a note

is (if the churchs acoustics allow it) heard to swirl around the orchestra in a sort of

Mexican wave.

The later part of the Elegy is somewhat dark in mood, however this is suddenly

interrupted by a sequence of grand fortissimo chords played by the whole orchestra,

and as these die away we briefly hear the original Elegy theme revisited on the

horns. As the music dies away we are left once again with the horns holding a final,

briefly swelling major chord.

Nick Planas

THE POLOVETSIAN DANCES

The Polovetsian Dances (or Polovtsian Dances) are perhaps the best known

selections from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor (1890). They are often played

as a stand-alone concert piece as one of the best known works in the classical

repertoire. In the opera the dances are performed with chorus, but concert

performances often omit the choral parts.

NIGHT ON THE BARE MOUNTAIN

Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in at

least two versions a seldom performed 1867 version or a later (1886) and very

popular 'fantasy for orchestra' arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the

Bare Mountain ( , Noch' na lysoy gorye), based on the vocal

score of the "Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad" (1880) from The Fair at Sorochyntsi

with some revisions, most notably the omission of the choir. There is also a version

orchestrated by twentieth-century conductor Leopold Stokowski; this is the version

used in the now-classic 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia.

Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky made a

witches' sabbath the theme of the original tone poem, completed on

June 23, 1867 (St. John's Eve). St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain

and Rimsky-Korsakov's 'musical picture' Sadko (also composed in 1867) share the

distinction of being the first tone poems by Russian composers.

As with so much of Mussorgsky's music, the work had a tortuous compositional

history and was arranged after his death in 1881 by his friend and fellow member of

the Mighty Handful Rimsky-Korsakov. It was never performed in any form during

Mussorgsky's lifetime. The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered in 1886, and has

become a concert favorite.

Note on the title: The Russian word "" (lsaya) literally means "bald", but is

used in this case figuratively for a mountain supposedly barren of trees. In English,

the titles A Night on the Bare Mountain or Night on Bald Mountain are used.

Rimsky Korsakov edition (1886)

In the years after Mussorgsky's death, his friends prepared his manuscripts for

publication and created performing editions of his unfinished works to enable them

to enter the repertoire. The majority of the editorial work was done by Rimsky-

Korsakov, who in 1886 produced a redacted edition of A Night on the Bare

Mountain from the Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad vocal score and premiered at

the first of the Russian Symphony Concerts:

"When I started putting it in order with the intention of creating a workable concert

piece, I took everything I considered the best and most appropriate out of the late

composers remaining materials to give coherence and wholeness to this work."

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

He apparently did not make use of the original tone poem of 1867 in making his

revision. The published score of his edition states "Completed and orchestrated by

N. Rimsky-Korsakov, 1886". If he had the score of the 1867 tone poem at hand, he

would have noticed that it was both completed and orchestrated. He also did not

remember Mussorgsky's letter to him announcing that he had finished the work on

St. John's Day, and had composed the work directly into full orchestral score, a

practice unusual for him. Mussorgsky's manuscript is believed to have been in the

keeping of Balakirev at the time.

However, Rimsky-Korsakov remembered that an orchestral score was Mussorgsky's

original intention, and because he had no manuscript of that score, he orchestrated

what he considered as an "unfinished" vocal score of the Dream Vision of the

Peasant Lad, omitting the vocal parts. Rimsky-Korsakov has made some

"corrections" typical of him (as he did with Boris Godunov, Khovanshchina, etc.),

which means that he preserved the thematic structure, but occasionally added or

omitted bars and changed harmonic structures.

SLEIGH RIDE

"Sleigh Ride" is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The

composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946; he

finished the work in February 1948. Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in

a sleigh on a winter's day with another person, were written by Mitchell Parish in

1950. The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and The

Boston Pops Orchestra. The song was a hit record on RCA Victor Red Seal 49-0515

(45 rpm) / 10-1484 (78 rpm), and has become the equivalent of a signature song for

the orchestra. The 45 rpm version was originally issued on red vinyl. This original

mono version has never been available on CD, although the later 1959 re-recording

is available in stereo. The orchestra has also recorded the song with John Williams,

their conductor from 1979 to 1995, and Keith Lockhart, their current conductor.

Leroy Anderson recorded his version of "Sleigh Ride" in 1950 on Decca 9-16000 (45

rpm) / 16000 (78 rpm). This monaural version is available on CD as well as his 1959

stereo re-recording. This recording hit the Cashbox magazine best sellers chart when

re-released in 1952. Mitch Miller also did a version of this song in 1961, found in the

best-selling LP Holiday Sing Along With Mitch.

Although "Sleigh Ride" is often associated with Christmas, and often appears on

Christmas compilation albums, the song's lyrics never specifically mention any

holiday or religion except certain "Sleigh Ride" versions (the Carpenters and Air

Supply being examples). In fact, the mention of pumpkin pie in the last verse might

suggest an association with Thanksgiving rather than Christmas.

According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers [ASCAP]

review of Christmas music, "Sleigh Ride" consistently ranks in the top 10 list of most

performed songs written by ASCAP members during the Christmas season

worldwide.

According to author Steve Metcalf in the book Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography

[Praeger 2004], "Sleigh Ride"... has been performed and recorded by a wider array

of musical artists than any other piece in the history of Western music."

A Christmas Festival

Famous for his concert music with a pop quality (his own words), Leroy Anderson

(1908 - 1975) possessed not merely a skill in technique and a rich melodic gift, but

also an engaging sense of humor. He was particularly successful in creating

descriptive pieces that effectively borrowed sounds and rhythms of the extramusical

world, such as the ticking of a clock, the clicking of a typewriter, and the ringing of

sleigh bells. Anderson first studied music with his mother, who was a church

organist. He earned a B.A. degree in music at Harvard University in 1929 and an

M.A. degree in foreign language there the following year. As a student, he

conducted the Harvard Band from 1928 to 1930. He became a music instructor at

Radcliffe College from 1930 to 1932 and returned to Harvard as band conductor

from 1932 to 1935. Later, he served as a church choir director, an organist, a

conductor, and a composer-arranger, whose works in the encore category have

few equals.

A Christmas Festival combines tunes from the secular and religious celebration of

the holiday. Anderson has encompassed the joy, celebration, and solemnity of

Christmas in his arrangements of: Joy To The World, Deck the Halls, God Rest Ye

Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, The First

Noel, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, O Come, All Ye Faithful.

THE SKATERS WALTZ

Les Patineurs or The Skaters or Die Schlittschuhlufer (German) op. 183 is a waltz by

Emile Waldteufel.

Known in English as The Skaters' Waltz, it was composed in 1882 and was inspired

by the Cercle des Patineurs or 'Rink of Skaters' at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. His

introduction to the waltz can be likened to the poise of a skater and the glissando

notes invoke scenes of a wintry atmosphere. The other themes that follow are

graceful and swirling, as if to depict a ring of skaters in their glory. Bells were also

added for good measure to complete the winter scenery. It was published by

Hopwood & Crew and was dedicated to Ernest Coquelin who was the younger

brother of two celebrated actor brothers of the Comdie Franaise.

Arturo Toscanini recorded the waltz with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1945 for

RCA Victor.

'Roses from the South', Waltz - Johann Strauss, Op. 388

"Rosen aus dem Sden" ("Roses from the South") Op. 388 is a waltz medley

composed by Johann Strauss II in 1880 with its themes drawn from the operetta Das

Spitzentuch der Knigin (The Queen's Lace Handkerchief) inspired by a novel by

Heinrich Bohrmann-Riegen.

The waltz was first performed at the regular Sunday concerts of the Strauss

Orchestra conducted by Eduard Strauss on 7 November 1880 at the Musikverein in

Vienna. Its themes drawn from the operetta are the act 1 "Trffel-Couplet" and the

act 2 romance "Wo die wilde Rose erblht" ("Where the Wild Rose Blossoms"). The

act 2 romance most certainly inspired the title of this waltz.

The waltz ranks among the "Waltz King's" magnificent works and is still regularly

performed today at the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert.

RUDOLF THE REDNOSE REINDEER

Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer is a long-running Christmas television special

produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass. It first aired December 6, 1964,

on the NBC television network in the USA, and was sponsored by General Electric

under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The special is based

on the song by Johnny Marks, which was in turn taken from the 1939 poem of the

same title written by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May.

Rudolph is a reindeer who is tormented by his dad Donner, and fellow reindeer

because of his shiny nose. The only reindeer who likes his nose is Clarice, a doe.

Along the way, Rudolph meets Hermey, an elf who quits his job so he can be a

dentist, and is facing problems with the other elves. They run away and meet Yukon

Cornelius, a prospector. They are attacked by the Bumble, an abominable snow

monster. They escape and go to the Island of Misfit Toys. They are told by the toys

to tell Santa to find kids who want them. Rudolph leaves his friends because he fears

the Bumble will find them because of his shiny nose.

Rudolph looks for his missing mother and father as well as Clarice. He finds them

trapped by the Bumble. Rudolph tries to stop him, but is knocked out by the

Bumble. Hermey and Yukon stop the Bumble by taking out his sharp teeth. Yukon

then pushes the Bumble into a pit, but the Bumble pulls Yukon into the pit with him.

Rudolph and the others go home, sad. Yet once they get home, they soon meet

Yukon and the Bumble, and Yukon tells them Bumbles bounce (bouncing out of the

pit unharmed). The toys on the island get children who love them, Hermey gets his

own dentist shop, Yukon finds a mine of peppermint and Rudolph gets to lead

Santa's sleigh, who needs his help because the weather is foggy out and he cannot

see without Rudolph's shining nose.

All programme notes with the exception of Planas taken from Wikipedia

Banbury Symphony Orchestra

Management Committee:

Jonathan Rowe (Chair), Kathryn Hayman (Secretary), Jenny Maynard (Treasurer)

Emma Callery, Estevan Ellul, Anna Fleming, Helen Payne, Andrew Waite

Conductor - Paul Willett

Violin I

Anna Fleming (Leader)

Jenny Maynard

Geoff Kent

Kathryn Hayman

Penny Tolmie

Peter Gorbing

Emma Blunt

Gill Walker

Norman Filleul

Marianne Robinson

Trish Evans

Clare Trivet

Violin II

Ian Smith

Emma Callery

Conrad Woolley

Sue Christie

Christine Morley

John Thomson

Kim Williams

Bryony Yelloly

Rachel Greene

Joe Cummings

Viola

David Bolton-King

John Maksinski

Jonathan Rowe

Annette Dorneich

Joe Pitt

Cello

Miranda Ricardo

Sarah Turnock

Peter Button

John Pimm

Michael Ghia

Double Bass

Robert Gilchrist

Jo Hammond

Flute

Rachel McCubbin

Anna Teare

Nick Planas

Alto flute

Anna Teare

Piccolo

Nick Planas

Oboe

Estevan Ellul

Lyn Gosney

Mairead Smyth

Cor Anglais

Lyn Gosney

Clarinet

Helen Payne

Lorna Edwards

Jo Williams

Eb clarinet

Celia Bolton-King

Bass clarinet

Alice Palmer

Alto/tenor saxophones

Lorna Edwards

Bassoon

Ian McCubbin

Rachel James

Contra Bassoon

Ian White

Horn

David Settle

Richard Hartree

Sharon Curtis

Edward Bolton-King

Trumpet

Tony Chittock

Ron Barnett

Terry Mayo

Trombone

Paul Macey

Gary Clifton

Malcolm Saunders

Tuba

James Bolton-King

Percussion

Justin Rhodes

Huw Morgan

Dave Hadland

Sue Woolhouse

Dave Martin

Harp

Karina Bell

Piano

Nia Williams

Website

Please visit our website for more information

www.banburysymphony.org

Patrons of Banbury Symphony Orchestra

S. E. Corsi, Esq. Mrs H. M. W. Rivett Lady Saye and Sele

We are very grateful to our patrons for their financial support.

If you would like to make a donation, please send a cheque made payable to

Banbury Symphony Orchestra to the treasurer Jenny Maynard, The White House,

Hill, Leamington Hastings, Rugby, CV23 8DX or email her on

j.maynard@coventry.ac.uk

Please also fill in a Gift Aid declaration that can be obtained from Jenny, which

enables the orchestra to claim an additional 25p for every 1 donated by taxpayers.

Our Sponsors

Banbury Symphony Orchestra has welcomed Spratt Endicott as sponsors since the

start of 2006. Spratt Endicott is pleased to be associated with Banbury Symphony

Orchestra.

We place particular emphasis on delivering effective legal solutions to the

problems faced by businesses and private clients alike. Our approach is proactive

and we listen to our clients and take pride in our efforts to achieve their objectives.

Spratt Endicott

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Regular updates on the orchestra Information about forthcoming concerts

If you would like to become a friend or would like to know more, please visit our

website, or contact Emma Callery on 01608 737249 or e-mail her:

emma@caller.demon.co.uk.

Are you interested in joining the orchestra?

If you play an instrument to a standard of Grade 7 or above and would like to play

with the orchestra, find out more by contacting Anna Fleming on 01295 780017. All

rehearsals take place at Banbury School during term time on Tuesday evenings,

7:309:30pm.

Dates for your diary

St Marys Church, Banbury. Saturday 27 March 2010 at 7.30pm

Banbury Symphony Orchestra concert including Waltons Spitfire Prelude and

Fugue, Elgars Nursery suite and Symphony by Arnold.

WISHING YOU A HAPPY CHRISTMAS!