Abingdonian 2018

18 The Abingdonian CBSO Concert at Symphony Hall, Birmingham On Friday 2 February, the first years were treated to a brief history of music concert given by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). We were privileged to hear nine pieces, ranging from Gabrieli to Bingham. All the pieces were superbly performed by the CBSO. It was a true auditory and visual feast. Here are some reviews of a selection of the pieces we heard: The Four Minute Mile By Judith Bingham (20th Century) The Four Minute Mile is a dramatically fast piece of symphonic music. The CBSO managed to get the time down to three minutes and eight seconds by playing it even faster than it is supposed to be. The story behind this is that Judith Bingham had to make a piece of music about anything (literally anything), but the piece had to be under four minutes. When the piece started it had a bang because this was to represent the four minute mile race so this was like the bang of a starting gun. Next it goes a bit slower to represent the running round the track. When it gets to the final part there is a bell to mark the final lap and finish the piece. Gran Partita - Serenade for Thirteen Wind Instruments By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Classical) The Adagio from the Gran Partita is a slow piece. The CBSO woodwind and some of the brass section were playing the third movement of this piece composed by the famous composer, Mozart. The clarinets and the bassoons play a quiet pulse in the background. The oboe stood out the most because it played the really high arching melody above the other instruments. Eroica Symphony By Beethoven (Late Classical/Early Romantic) The Eroica Symphony was composed by another famous composer called Beethoven. Beethoven actually went deaf but still continued to compose music. In 1803 he composed this piece of music and he called it Sinfonia Eroica (they played the third movement of this – a scherzo). It starts off quietly with just the strings then it gets louder almost immediately with three horns of the orchestra, then it gets repeated. Sonata XIII By Giovanni Gabrieli (Late Renaissance/Early Baroque) Sonata XIII was a piece played by eight members of the brass section. It was a repetitive piece with slow parts and fast parts too. As an opening piece it was performed very well. It combines a lot of different lively rhythms and some smoother solemn music. The ensemble was divided up into two groups who were separated and played from high balconies opposite each other so that they could create echo effects. The Rite of Spring By Igor Stravinsky (Early 20th Century) The Rite of Spring was certainly a very dramatic and different piece. It was definitely not what might be expected from the title. It tells a tale of prehistoric Russia, where tribespeople worshipped the seasons. The CBSO made this piece sound like spring was in full stride, with the start sounding peaceful. It did not gradually reach a climax to show that spring is finally brought to life, but instead, it went from calm and peaceful to angry and violent very quickly with the violinists playing short and sharp bows. The sound and rhythm were jagged, harsh and unexpected. The brass instruments seemed to shout strange chants. The percussion instruments were really loud, especially with the thunderous sound of the timpani (kettle drums) and the shimmering sound of the tam-tam (gong).. Winter (from The Four Seasons) By Antonio Vivaldi (Baroque) Vivaldi lived in Venice, a century after Gabrieli, and this is one of the four pieces that he wrote in 1723, each inspired by a different season of the year. In this piece the music really did sound chilly at times. It truly made the listener think of winter. Like the winter weather, the mood shifted slowly like freezing fog. At other times, the music raced and whirled like snow in a blizzard or a howling gale. The jangling sound of the harpsichord was very intriguing. The violins, violas, cellos and basses created an impressive sound, but the solo violinist was truly inspirational. Jack Higgs, 1MWL