The Gateway, Seaton - Sunday 20 October 2024

'Home Grown'

Soloist: Faye Mayer

• Holst: A Moorside Suite H173 (1927)
• Stanford: Clarinet Concerto in A Minor Op 80 (1904)
• Elgar: Nursery Suite (1931)
• Arnold: Little Suite No. 1 for orchestra Op 53 (1955)

Concert review

A terrific concert of all British music, entitled Home Grown, was performed by our own home grown orchestra this weekend.  Music by Holst, Stanford, Elgar and Arnold was played with sensitivity, passion and enlightenment. 

Holst’s ‘Moorside Suite’captured the lyrical, English folk idiom with intimations of the familiar ‘Planets’ (particularly on the side-drum in the final movement).  Elgar’s ‘Nursery Suite’ contained the range of emotion we know so well, but from the perspective of early childhood.  Perhaps it was best represented by the contrast between the Serious and Sad Doll’s which are two of the 6 short movements extremely well played with a tricky, but well executed solo by the flautist, Jane Smith.  The Elgar was reminiscent of his jolly shed music!

But it was the other two pieces that stood out for me.  Stanford’s A minor Clarinet concerto was brilliantly played by 17 year old local school-girl, Faye Mayer.  She performed impeccably with excellent control and intonation.  Her superb pianissimo entries at both ends of the register were outstanding.  (My only criticism would be that the orchestra couldn’t match her dynamic control!)  Then she played the final and furious last movement with a lightness and technical accuracy that many older and more experienced players would envy.  Moreover, she took command of the orchestra by stressing the beat through difficult flourishing passages throughout her compass.  No wonder she gained a distinction in her diploma and plays at National and European level.  She is someone to look out for! 

The Little Suite by Malcolm Arnold was the final piece.  It could be film music, and suits the orchestra very well.  Well done the brass, percussion and timps who made the most of their moment.

Altogether this was a thrilling concert and made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon’s entertainment.

Jeremy White

The Minster, Axminster - 19 May 2024

'A Spring in your Step'

• Weinberger: Polka from the Opera Schwanda the Bagpiper
• Delibes: Incidental music from the ballet Coppelia
• Bizet: L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1
• Joset Strauss: Village Swallows Op 164
• Johann Strauss II: Voices of Spring Waltz Op 410 and Tritsch Tratsch Polka Op 214

Concert review

The opera Schwanda the Bagpiper is no longer a repertory opera but in its first decade it clocked up 2000 performances. The Polka however is still frequently played, in fact it got as far as my school orchestra in North London. Fortunately, the composer Jaromir Weinberger was not present to hear our rendition. The Axe Vale Orchestra in the Minster, Axminster, attacked the music with verve and panache and sailed through the swirling string writing.

It wasn’t made clear why the next two pieces were played in reverse order but it must have kept some of the audience on its toes. We heard next the music which Léo Delibes wrote for his ballet Coppélia. Based on a typically weird story by ETA Hoffman it features a doll which is “brought to life”. Delibes spins a web of glorious dance tunes and the AVO brought out the contrasts between them as well as the superb orchestration. The AVO seem to be getting better every time I hear them – this music was a great vehicle for their skill. And credit too to their conductor Walter Brewster who not only brought out the best in them but seemed to be sharing in the smiles.

Although not as familiar as the music Georges Bizet wrote for his great opera Carmen, much of the music he wrote to accompany the play The Girl from

Arles (l’Arlésienne) is really familiar. The orchestra treated us to the rather rustic rhythms and counterpoint in this first suite of pieces from the score including a delicious alto saxophone tune. They even added the well-known farandole, its two tunes played together with great aplomb.

This lively concert ended with three sparkling dances from the Strauss family; the Village Swallows Waltz included some delightful bird song, no doubt straight out of the Vienna Woods. All in all, an uplifting concert and we look forward to the AVO’s next concert, on Sunday 20 October at The Gateway, Seaton.

Ray Bruno

Colyton Town Hall - 25 February 2024

'Music and Landscapes'

• Holst: A Somerset Rhapsody No.2 
• Beethoven: Symphony No 6 in F - The Pastoral
• Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad Rhapsody

Concert review

The Axe Vale Orchestra’s excellent concert in Colyton Town Hall focused on Music and Landscape with two very evocative English works and, in the opinion of many radio listeners, one of the greatest of all symphonies. 

Gustav Holst came from a line of professional musicians and despite his name was, like his parents, British-born. He loved England, rambled widely and was much influenced by such luminaries as Vaughan-Williams and William Morris.  He collected many English folk songs and incorporated some of these into his Somerset Rhapsody No 2 which the AVO played.  They caught the shimmering opening beautifully and the oboe d’amore melody was superb.  The flute tune and the march like tune which followed were nicely captured.

George Butterworth always fills me with sorrow; that such a special talent should have been allowed to fight in the trenches, where he was shot by a sniper, is beyond belief.  The high string chords which open the Shropshire Lad Rhapsody were really chillingly played.  The poems by Hausman which it is based on are rather bleak in character, too.  The conductor Walter Brewster caught the ebb and flow of this work so well. 

What can one write about Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony?  It was revolutionary, but then, so was most of his music.  It was not only the musical techniques but also the images which the music conjures up, with individual instruments invoking particular sounds: clarinets for the cuckoo, timpani for the thunder and so on.  Needless to say, the AVO coped more than adequately with all this. 

The opening had a fresh and bucolic feel especially the clarinets and there was some suave detail (the conductor is a clarinettist).  And how lovely actually to be there and to pick up all the gorgeous detail in the score; the cellos seemed to have some rather fiendish passages especially in the opening movement.  The relaxed amble of the second movement nicely blended the instruments, especially the woodwind. The following peasant dance had plenty of rustic thump followed by the extraordinary storm movement with the timpanist having fun. The transition to the final feelings of thanksgivings after the storm was a real joy. 

Well done to the AVO and we’ll see you at the Minster, Axminster on 19 May.  I think we may be hearing from the excellent Walter Brewster again.

Ray Bruno