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Saturday, 11th March 2023
Alderley Edge Methodist Church
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WEBER Overture: Oberon
DVORAK Czech Suite in D major, Op 39
SAINT-SAENS Symphony No 3 in C minor (‘Organ’)
Organ:
ROHAN SHOTTON
Conductor
DAVID CHATWIN
Tickets: Adult £15; Under 18: £2
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Camille Saint-Saens was an extraordinary child. Born in 1835, the youngster could apparently read
and write by the time he was two, starting picking out original tunes on the
piano a year later. At the age of five he gave his first piano recital, making
his formal debut as a concert pianist aged 11.
By the time he was 22, he was organist at the Madeleine, the most prestigious
job in all France, and his popularity led to an invitation to Britain in 1871
to play for Queen Victoria. In 1886, the Philharmonic Society commissioned his Third Symphony, premiered in London at the St. James’s Hall on 19th May,
It is a remarkable symphony, one of the most technically advanced and
sophisticated of the late 19th century, packed with innovations for the time,
and without doubt the pinnacle of Saint-Saens’s achievements. He does away with the old structures and produces a work of two
halves although you could say, with each half split in two, there is a nod to
the old four movement convention. He introduces the piano as well as the organ
into his symphony, producing an ingenious work for four hands alongside the
orchestra. The organ’s introduction is especially subtle, and beautifully crafted, whilst the theme
itself – based on the old Latin plainchant Dies Irae – is revealed in both major and minor keys throughout the symphony until fully
and thrillingly performed by the organist in the closing finale.
Our concert opens with Weber’s spritely overture to Oberon, his final opera that was premiered at London’s Covent Garden in 1826. The three act opera, set in English with spoken
dialogue, was described as “one of the most remarkable combinations of fantasy and technical skill in modern
music.”
Dvořák composed his evocative Czech Suite in 1879. The work is made up of five movements, three of which are traditional
Czech dances, and two are descriptive of the Bohemian countryside which
inspired much of Dvořák's music.
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Tickets
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