The Chichester Symphony Orchestra has been part of the musical life of Chichester for many years. As a highly regarded amateur orchestra, they aim to provide exciting and memorable concerts for the community and surrounding areas.
Programme of Music:
Hebrides Overture Op. 26 (Fingal's Cave)
by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
Fingal's Cave is a towering chamber of basalt columns on the island of Staffa. Whilst on one of his many visits to Britain in 1829, Mendelssohn took a boat out to see the cave and was inspired allegedly by the echoes inside to compose The Hebrides overture. The music is an archetypal Romantic creation: a combination of both a turbulent and a contrasting song-like idea, depicting the violence of the seas and the awe of nature.
Symphony No. 1
by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Beethoven's youthful First Symphony is very clearly influenced by his teacher Haydn, but is in no way short of originality. After starting in the 'wrong' key, the faster movements have a barely-contained energy and plenty of sudden jumps in dynamic, and most of all the third movement is significantly faster than the traditional minuet. After several years of making sketches and ideas, the premiere of the completed symphony took place in 1800 and propelled Beethoven to fame in Vienna.
Praeludium
by Armas Järnefelt (1863 - 1958)
Armas Järnefelt, who spent most of his career as a conductor, wrote in a more conservative style than his famous brother-in-law, Sibelius. This short Prelude from 1900 has something of the character of a folk dance, and to English ears may be evocative of similar 'pastoral' composers of the same period.
