Dot and I have just returned from an extremely impressive concert given by AcO2, or the Australian Chamber Orchestra's youth division. The average age of the performers must have been in the early 20s. It was 90 minutes of sheer bliss as the 17 members played four works for string ensemble (10 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos and a double bass). Their ensemble work was brilliant and the sounds of individual instruments was extremely delicate and controlled.
The works played were also rarely heard, but highly diverse and often emotionally intense. The first, by Australian composer Roger Smalley, was entitled Birthday Tango (2006), and reminded me of the trip I took with Rebecca a decade ago to Buenos Aires where we saw numerous street performers dancing the Tango around the Casa Rosa and other places. It had the strong rhythms of the Tango, but the score was delicately woven and complex - modern music at its best. Mozart's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1775) was written when he was only 19 - but anticipated the quality of his later compositions. After the intermission we treated to an emotionally charged work by the Estonian composer Arvo Part, his Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell (1977). The sounds produced were brilliant and unbelievably sustained. Try to listen to it if you can. It bought the house down. And this was paired with Britten's own highly charged Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (1937). This successful work launched Britten's career as a composer and is highly regarded.
So there were two 20th century works and one dating from just 7 years ago at the start of the 21st century. The sell-out audience was ecstatic and the ensemble received great applause - sufficient to guarantee an encore. This was a beautiful Finnish folk song, presumably penned by Sibelius and selected because one of the performers was from that country. Armidale is really lucky with the constant flow of top class performers despite its small population and remoteness. Here are some of the orchestra's performers.
AS
The works played were also rarely heard, but highly diverse and often emotionally intense. The first, by Australian composer Roger Smalley, was entitled Birthday Tango (2006), and reminded me of the trip I took with Rebecca a decade ago to Buenos Aires where we saw numerous street performers dancing the Tango around the Casa Rosa and other places. It had the strong rhythms of the Tango, but the score was delicately woven and complex - modern music at its best. Mozart's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1775) was written when he was only 19 - but anticipated the quality of his later compositions. After the intermission we treated to an emotionally charged work by the Estonian composer Arvo Part, his Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell (1977). The sounds produced were brilliant and unbelievably sustained. Try to listen to it if you can. It bought the house down. And this was paired with Britten's own highly charged Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (1937). This successful work launched Britten's career as a composer and is highly regarded.
So there were two 20th century works and one dating from just 7 years ago at the start of the 21st century. The sell-out audience was ecstatic and the ensemble received great applause - sufficient to guarantee an encore. This was a beautiful Finnish folk song, presumably penned by Sibelius and selected because one of the performers was from that country. Armidale is really lucky with the constant flow of top class performers despite its small population and remoteness. Here are some of the orchestra's performers.
AS
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