Autumn Concert 2023
On Sunday 1st October at 4.30pm, West Forest Sinfonia will give its first concert of the 2023-24 season. The concert takes place at The Great Hall, Reading University and will be directed by Philip Ellis, WFS Principal Conductor.
We begin our programme with a tone poem by Sibelius, Pohjola’s Daughter. Finnish mythology had a strong influence on Sibelius and this is reflected in many of his compositions. Pohjola's Daughter, was composed in 1906. It depicts the steadfast, old, white-bearded Väinämöinen, who spots the beautiful daughter of the North (Pohjola), seated on a rainbow, weaving a cloth of gold while he is riding a sleigh through the dusky landscape. Despite all his attempts encourage her to join him, evil spirits defeat him in his task and he continues on his journey alone!
The soloist in the Cello concerto by Schumann is the young Australian virtuoso, Rachel Siu. Schumann started composing his Cello Concerto in Düsseldorf where he was Music Director of the city’s orchestra. From start to finish, the piece was written during a two-week burst of inspiration in October 1850. Although the work is technically demanding, unlike many concertos of the era it prizes poetic expression above virtuoso display.
Richard Strauss completed Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) in 1898. It was his eighth tone poem and was his most ambitious work at that time in terms of orchestral demands. The work contains more than thirty quotations from Strauss's earlier works, including Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Death and Transfiguration. Whilst “the Hero” does not appear to have an identity, Strauss commented “it does have lots of horns, horns being quite the thing to express heroism.” Composed for a vast orchestra including 8 horns!
Door time: 4:10pm, Start time: 4:30pm
