Music Appreciation is a group of u3a members who like to listen to a wide range of music genres and extend their knowledge of the music and the composers.

Our programmes are varied and can last up to 2 hours depending on the choice of that month. A break for tea/coffee is taken about 3.00 pm.

Three times a year we have an open programme when members bring a CD track of their choice (lasting no longer than 6 mins). This allows everyone the chance and time to play their choice and make their comments on it.

Come and join us for an interesting and stimulating afternoon with the opportunity to play and discuss your choice of music. Whatever your tastes you will be most welcome.

Programme for 2024

22nd October 2024 : " Musical discoveries on Internet radio"

This is a presentation by Colin and Barbara Redwood introducing music they have discovered via the new medium of Internet radio.

26th November 2024 : Open forum / BYO

Reports on previous meetings

Over past few years almost every genre of music has been played and listened to from light music to extreme classical including Stage Shows, Dance Music, Opera, Ballet and Orchestral and including Composers from Gershwin to Myaskovsky with performances by well known and sometimes little known soloists.

24th September 2024 : " Water and music"

Using a wide range of musical examples , this well received presentation by John Appleton explored the fascination of composers for water in all its guises and included some surprises.

There were songs from film , film musicals and musical theatre and an unusual choral version of "The Blue Danube". Also played was music composed by Vivaldi for the newly invented "transverse flute" (i.e modern flute) and from his "seasons" . There were some direct connections like Chopin's "Raindrops" prelude , Jeux d'eau by Ravel ,Handel's "Water Music" , Smetana's " Vlatava" and Mendelssohn's " Hebrides Overture . The connection was less direct in the case of Dvorak's sonatina " Indian Lament " which was inspired by the legend of Minihaha -" laughing water". The most unusual item was part of a work by Alan Hovhaness " And God crated great Whales" that included the haunting sounds of Bowhead and Humpback whales .

Playlist

1  "Singing  in the rain". sung by Gene Kelly. from the Original Film Soundtrack.

2. "Reflections on the nature of water- Fleet." Jacob Druckman Third Coast Percussion. ( Marimba)

3 " Prelude No 15 "The Raindrop" Chopin. Royal Symphony Orchestra.

4 "Jeux d’eau, 2 M30. Maurice Ravel. Helen Grimaud. (p)

5 "Concerto no.2 in G Minor, RV31. "Summer" Antonio Vivaldi, Nigel Kennedy, (v) English Chamber Orchestra

6 "Violin Sonatina in G Major, Op100, "Indian Lament" Antonin Dvorak, Randall Goosby, (v) Zhu Wang.(p)

7 "Water Music - Suite No 2 in D Major." George Frederic Handel. RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra c. Leopold Stokowski.

8 "The Blue Danube Waltz. "Johann Strauss 11. Chorus of the Vienna State Opera,Vienna Philharmonic c. Willi Boskovsky

9   "Old Man River ( From "Showboat" by Jerome Kern ans Oscar Hammerstein ) - sung by Paul Robeson in Carnegie Hall 1958.

10   T"he Moldau . Vlatava "(From Ma Vlast) Bedrich Smetana, Vienna Philharmonic, c, Herbert von Karajan

312  "Flute Concerto No1 in F Major" ,Antonio Vivaldi,Jiri Stevin,(FL) Slovak Chamber Orchestra c. Bohdan Warchal.

12 "Fingal’s Cave " from " The Hebrides Overture ",Op26, Felix Mendelssohn, London Symphony Orchestra, c.Antal Dorati.

13. "And God Created Great Whales, " Alan Hovhaness, Philharmonic Orchestra c. David Amos,

14  "Raindrops keep falling on my head," sung by Dean Martin ( Composed by Burt Bacharach and Hall David for the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

Meeting 27th August 2024 : Gustav Holst - A one-hit wonder ?

This year is the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Gustav Holst , now most associated with his suite “The Planets”.

Some composers write one piece so popular that they are known for nothing else and David Sunderland was tempted to include Holst in his list of presentation on one-hit musical wonders”.

However , he reminded us that although Holst died aged only 56 , he composed almost 200 works, including operas , ballets , choral hymns and songs.  – a list taking  26 pages on Wikipedia.

In this presentation we heard some of his other works that are regularly performed today eg the “ St Paul’s Suite” and “ A Somerset Rhapsody”  but also some works that are rarely heard in concert and for which few recordings are available .

These included “ A Winter Idyll” , composed while he was still a student and much influenced by Wagner, part of his “ Indra “ tone poem from the period when Holst set several Sanskrit poems to music and a Suite from one of his ballets  “The Perfect fool” ,a parody on the works of Wagner , Verdi and Debussy .

When  Holst died young aged 56 he had only completed the Scherzo from his planned symphony but this proved to be “ not the music of an old man” and gave an indication of what music he might have given us .

Perhaps the most widely performed of Holst’s music is one that most do not associate with him  - his beautiful setting of the carol “In the bleak midwinter.

Playlist  

1 “Jupiter – The Bringer of jollity “  (1917)    Played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic   conducted by Sir Charles Mackeras

2 A Winter Idyll  (1897) Played there by the Ulster Orchestra  conducted by JoAnn Falletta

3 In the Bleak Midwinter – setting by Holst 1904-5          Sung by the group Tenebrae conducted by Nigel Short

4 “Indra” tone poem ( 1903 ) opening                           Played by the Ulster Orchestra c  JoAnn Falletta 

5 A Somerset Rhapsody      Played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra c. David Lloyd-Jones,                                               

6 St Pauls Suite   1^st and 2^nd movements                 Played here by the City of London Sinfonia c, Richard Hickox

7  - The Perfect Fool – Introductory Ballet  Music Played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra c Sir Adrian Boult.

8  Scherzo from the unfinished Symphony                      Played  by the Munich Philharmonic c Douglas Bostock

9 “ The Planets  - 6^th movement – “ Uranus – The Magician Played by the London Symphony Orchestra c Richard Hickox

Meeting 23^rd July 2024  - Open forum / BYO

As usual with this type of meeting , a wide selection of music was played including  popular . film , light opera and classical . There were old favourites in different arrangements and some surprises . Vocal and piano pieces were popular .

Play list

“ Mustang Sally” by the Commitments

“ The Eternal vow” from the film “ Crouching Tiger , Hidden Daggers “   composed by Tam Dun , played by the Royal Philharmonic c. Paul Bateman

Franz Schubert ‘s  “ Moments  No 2”   played by Alfred  Brendel  (piano)

“ The old songs”  by David Paneranz and Buddy Kaye   also “ Bermuda Triangle”  by BM , Boussman and Feldman -  sung by Barry Manilow,

“ Let it go” from the film “Frozen” soundtrack  , score by Christopher Beck   - sung by Idina Menzel    also the instrumental “ Elsa & Anna and the trolls”

Franz Schubert ‘s  Symphony No 8  “ The unfinished”  - 2^nd movement

Played by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchesta c Nikolaus Harnoncourt

“ Vienna – City of my Dreams “  by Rudolf Sieczynski  - sung by Placido Domingo with the English Chamber Orchestra   c Julius Rudel

Paul Creston’s  The Rumour “  played by the CSBO c, Simon Rattle

Gershwin’s “ The man I love”  arranged as a piano solo by Pergy Grainger   - played by Isata Kenneth-Mason

Chopin – “ Grande Valse Brilliante”  played by Ingrid Flitter ( piano)

25th June 2024 : The life and music of Aram Khachaturian 1903 - 1978

This presentation by Liz James introduced members to works by this Armenian/Russian composer that are rarely heard like his piano and violin concertos and Symphonies . The inclusion of a Georgian traditional instrument , sounding like a musical saw, in the 2nd movement of his Piano concerto was not appreciated by our members ! The " musical fireworks" in the 3rd movement of his violin concerto were more to our taste , as was the excerpt from his 2nd Symphony .

There were also more familiar works like pieces from his ballet suites including " The Sabre Dance "from " Gayane " and the Adagio from "Spartacus " - recognised as the introductory music from the TV series " The Onedin Line".

Although honoured by the State early on in his career , like many other composers in Russia , Khachaturian's music fell out of favour with the authorities and he switched to film composition . He later taught at the Moscow Conservatory and toured outside Russia , promoting his own works.

Playlist

Piano Concerto - 2nd movement -Played by the London Philharmonic c Raphael Frubeck de Burgos . Soloist Alicia da Larrocha

Violin Concerto - 3rd movement Played by the London Philharmonic c. Anatole Fistoulari soloist Ruggiero Ricci

Symphony No 2 - 4th movement Played by the Vienna Philharmonic c Aram Khachaturian

Ballet Suites Played by the St Petersberg State Symphony Orchestra c, Andre Anichanov

From " Gayane" Suite No 2 " Lullaby and " The Sabre Dance" , Suite No 2 " Solo / Love Duet"

From " Spartacus : Suite No 1 " Victory of Spartacus - Dance o the Gladiators" and suite No 2 " Adagio of Spartacus and Phygia

23^rd April 2024:   Open forum / BYO 

As usual this members choice meeting produced a wide variety of music from popular via musicals and Jazz to Classical . Composers included some unfamiliar names like Heino Kaski from Finland and Stephen Schwartz ( of “Godspell and “Wicked” fame) . There was a Mandolin version of some dances by Edward German and a trumpet concerto from Leopold Mozart , the father of Amadeus Wolfgang .

Play list

1 )Heino Kaski :  “A Night at the Seaside”  played by Janne Mertanen (piano)

2) Eric Whitacre : “ Water Night”   –    played by The London Symphony Orchestra Strings  c. Eric Whitacre

3)   Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice :   “ Don’t Cry for me Argentina” from “Evita”  – sung by Madonna

4) K Reid/ G Brooker : “ A whiter Shade of Pale “  sung by Annie Lennox

5) Edward German : “ Three Dances from “Nell Gwyn”  played by Simon Meyer ( Mandolin)

6) Stephen Schwartz :  “ When you believe”  from the musical “ The Prince of Egypt”                                                                                                         sung by the cast of the stage show

7)   Leopold Mozart :   Trumpet Concerto  pt 1    played by the Orchestre de Chambre Jean-Francoise Paillard

8) Johny Dankworth : “ Suite on William Hogarth”

9)  Gustav Holst:  “ Mercury”  from “ The Planet Suite

26^th March 2024  – “ The life and Music of Jean Sibelius “

Considering the popularity of works by this composer and his status as the National composer of Finland, it is surprising that this was the full presentation on Jean Sibelius given to the group.

This omission was corrected by Colin Russ who illustrated a biography with chronological excerpts from his prolific output of over 500 works .

These included familiar pieces like the “Karelia Suite – 1st movement (once used as the introductory music for the TV programme  “ This Week” and “ Finlandia “  1st movement” ( still used as the introductory music for “ The Sky at night “and parts of two of his 7 Symphonies .

However , more rarely heard items were included including a piano impromptu , a string quartet and parts of his incidental music for a production of Shakespeare’s  “The Tempest “.

Mention was made of his influence on the movement for Finnish nationalism and the mystery about his composing little in the last 30 years of his long life.

Sibelius  – Playlist

“ Vattendropper”  ( “Waterdrops”)  played by Yoshiko Arai on violin

“ Karelia Suite “   1^st movement –   Played by the  Philharmonia Orchestra c, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Six Impromptus  OP 5  No 5 in B Minor   – Havard Gimse ( piano)

“Finlandia” – played by the London Symphony Orchestra  c, Gannadi Rozhdestvensky

“Valse Triste”      “             “                   “                   “

“Pelleas and Melisande”  – 1^st movement  “ At The Castle Gate” ,     10^th movement  “ The Death of Melisande”

“Voces Intimes”  – 1st movement  – Emerson Quartet

Symphony No 4 – 2^nd movement  –  Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra  c. Simon Rattle

Symphony No 5 – 3^rd movement   –        “                   “

“ The Tempest” Suite No 1   “The Storm”  & “ The Dance of the Nymphs”                                                                          played by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra  c, Neemi Jarvi

27^th February 2024 –  Music from around the World

The first part of this presentation by Nick Williams was a musical tour , giving us music from Tchaikovsky and Kenny Ball representing Russia , moving to Finland with some Sibelius , then to Hungary with music by Liszt and Germany with some Schumann.                                                                                                                                                            A long flight to China was necessary for part of a concerto based on a folktale in a version orchestrated to include traditional Chinese instruments.

The second part of the presentation was in the form of a quiz with the members asked to identify the country or city in the titles of the pieces .    While the music was familiar, the search for the answers produced much good natured speculation and memory searching.

A presentation obviously much enjoyed by the attendees.

Play list  – part 1

Russia :   “March Slav” by Tchaikovsky –   played by the Royal Philharmonic c, Adrian Leaper

“ Midnight in Moscow”  Played by Kenny Ball

Finland :    3^rd movement of Sibelius “Violin Concerto”   played by Victoria Mullova (v)    with the Boston Symphony Orchestra    c. Seiji Ozawa

Hungary :   Liszt’s  “ Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 “   Played by the Berlin Philharmonic  c, Herbert von Karajan

Germany :  Piano Concerto in A minor by Robert Schumann   –  Played by Raola Lupa (p)  with the London Symphony Orchestra    c, Andre Previn

China :        “ Butterfly Lovers Concerto “    by Chen Gang and He Zhanjao  – last two movements                                                      Played by Joshua Bell (v) with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra   c.Tsung Ye

QUIZ Answers

“ April in Paris” – played by the Count Basie orchestra

“ Out of Africa “ by John Barry   from the film soundtrack

“ Tahiti-Trot “ variation by Shostakovich  on “ Tea for Two”

“ El Salon Mexico “ by Aaron Copland

“ Italian Symphony “ by Mendelssohn

“ Buenos Aires” from “ Evita” by Andrew Lloyd Webber

23rd January 2024:   The Music of Sir Malcolm Arnold

This presentation by David Sunderland gave a selection from the works of this prolific British composer .    With 140 ” Classical” works and over 100 film scores to choose from , selection had proved difficult and concentrated more on his lighter music and film scores .

Malcolm Arnold started his career as a trumpet player , becoming principal trumpet of the London Philharmonic for many years while becoming famous and wealthy as a film and documentary score composer .

He wanted to be recognised as a composer of ” serious” music but his tonal style ( i.e. love of a good tune ) was more popular with concert audiences than it was with the music critics of the time .

Although many of the composer’s works showed a mischievous sense of humour , his life was full of personal tragedy .

Playlist

1  “ The Bridge on the River Kwai Suite “   – finale  .                        Played by  the BBC Concert Orchestra c Barry Wordsworth

2   “ Trumpet concerto “  Played by John Wallace with the Bournemouth       Sinfonietta

3  “ Backus the Dandipratt”       Played by  the BBC Concert Orchestra c Vernon Handley

4 “ English Dances  – Set 2”   Nos 1 & 3    Played by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra c Andrew Perry

5  “ Symphony No 2 “  – 4^th movement            – Played by the BBC Welsh orchestra c Malcolm Arnold

6   “Inn of the 6^th Happiness” –  Suite  – finale   Played by the London Philharmonic

7 “ Grand Concerto Gastronomique  for Eater , Waiter , Food and Orchestra”           Performed by the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra  c John Gibbons

8  “ Clarinet Concerto  No 2 “ – 1^st  & 3^rd movements               Played by Michael Collins with the London Musici c.   Mark Stephenson

Previous years