Saturday 16th October 2021, 7.30pm, St Paul’s Church Bedford.

Elgar         Shed Music
Gounod  Petite Symphony
Brahms     Serenade No.2

Welcome to our first concert of Bedfordshire Orchestral Society’s new season.

Rehearsals for this programme began during lockdown in the gardens of various members of Bedfordshire Orchestral Society. Due to COVID restrictions, numbers were limited so pieces were chosen which did not require a large orchestra.

Elgar’s Shed Music was composed for himself and several friends to play on Sunday afternoons. The ensemble comprised oboe, two flutes and cello or bassoon and practised in a shed behind The Elgar Brothers music shop, hence the name. It seemed fitting that we should play this music, although we were under a hastily purchased gazebo, rather than in a shed!

The Petite Symphony was written at the instigation of Gounod’s friend, the flautist Paul Taffanel. The complete miniature symphony is elegant and delicate, with the first movement starting with a slow introduction, like that of Haydn, followed by an allegretto in sonata form. The second movement features the flute with the following Scherzo featuring a hunting theme with a lively finale to end the symphony.

Brahms wrote his Serenade No.2 in 1895 and dedicated it to Clara Schumann. Later, the work was rescored for a small orchestra without violins. This results in a very mellow quality and allows us to feature our wonderful viola and cello sections, alongside the woodwind.

Our conductor for this concert is Thomas Payne. Recently having conducted orchestras such as The Orchestra of the Royal Danish Theatre, The Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, Southbank Sinfonia and Neue Streicher Wien, Thomas finds himself at home in a variety of repertoire.
He is Musical Director of London City Orchestra and was a Jette Parker Young Artist at The Royal Opera House, serving as Music Staff for productions with The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet.
At Covent Garden he was Cover Conductor for performances of The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Mayerling, Don Quixote and La Bayadere among many others and served as off stage conductor for The Royal Opera’s production of Otello.
Since his time there he has been invited to conduct for Scottish Ballet and Northern Ballet and will conduct performance of Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Green Opera and Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro for Hampstead Garden Opera.
He is fortunate to have received tuition and masterclasses from the world’s leading conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano, Koen Kessels, Ed Gardner, Steuart Bedford and Sian Edwards. He was taught privately for a number of years by Philip Ellis.

Adults: £13
Concessions: £10
Children/Students: £5

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