Blackmore Vale Magazine - June 2024
New departure for Shaftesbury Symphony Orchestra.
Perhaps appropriately, given the weather this year, Shaftesbury Symphony Orchestra have chosen a water theme for their summer concert on June 30th .
In a new approach to concert programming for the orchestra, Sarah Freestone the conductor, has chosen works all of which have water as their inspiration or setting. As Sarah explained “Having a link between pieces makes a concert a more satisfying experience both for the audience and the players. The orchestra had wanted a more proms style to this concert and the theme of water gave us many excellent works to choose from.”
The programme contains some familiar works and in true proms fashion will end with the Fantasy on British Sea Songs by Wood. Before then the audience will be able to enjoy the crashing waves of the Hebrides Overture, otherwise known as Fingal’s Cave as well as the sound of Scottish waterfalls in MacCunn’s From the Land of the Mountain and the Flood. There are calmer waters at hand in the beautiful dance music of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite as well as in the majestic sweep of the flowing river in Smetana’s Vltava from Ma Vlast.
The concert is free with a retiring collection and refreshments will be available for a donation.
The concert starts at 4pm on 30 th June at St James’ Church, Saint James’s Street, Shaftesbury SP7 8HL
Blackmore Vale Magazine - March 2024
Raising The Roof for St James’ Clock Tower
On 17th March Shaftesbury Symphony Orchestra will be performing their Spring concert to raise money for the restoration of the clock tower of St James’ church, Shaftesbury.
The orchestra have an established tradition of supporting projects at the church including the restoration of the large rose stained-glass window. Andi Blows, church warden at St James’ explained, “We are delighted that the orchestra continues to perform in the wonderful acoustic of the church and makes music for us all to enjoy. The generosity of the audiences have enabled us to make improvements to this beautiful building and to keep it as a valuable community resource.”
And this concert will certainly be a roof-raiser with a programme of popular and rousing works. The concert will open with one of Brahms’ most popular pieces. His Academic Festival Overture was written to honor the University of Breslau and is famously based on a number of student songs, popular at the time, with Brahms intending to show the joyful side of his character. This is followed by Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances with the swirling rhythms and harmonies of the Eurasian Steppe. The final piece is Dvorak’s wonderful 7th Symphony. Although without explicit song or dance references, Dvorak was well known for being influenced by the folk music of his native Bohemia. The 7th Symphony is no exception with beautiful lyrical tunes that the audience will no doubt be humming as they leave.
The concert is free with a retiring collection for the church tower and refreshments will be available for a donation.
The concert starts at 4pm on 17th March at St James’ Church, Saint James's Street, Shaftesbury SP7 8HL