Glinka: Overture “Russlan and Ludmilla”
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite
Mozart: Symphony No. 31 (“Paris”)
Tchaikovsky: Excerpts from “Sleeping Beauty”
Conductor: Keith Dawber. Soloists: Andrew Lansom, Evelyn Lloyd, David Riley. Leader:
Emlyn Evans
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VIOLIN 1 Emlyn Evans Anna Lloyd Jones John Huglow Kathleen Webster Ken Hobbs Joseph Lloyd John Williams Albert Davies Paul Consterdine David Riley VIOLIN 2 Tom Attwell Esme Cox Rosemary Evans Stephen Bungay Michael Evans Georgina Griffiths Myra Roberts Rosalind Maddocks David Hughes Richard Hughes Frank Woolrich |
VIOLA Pryce Hughes Maimie Pritchard Maureen Bluett Bethan Miles CELLO Bernard Jones Gruffudd Miles Philip Jones Arthur Crane Keith Bryson DOUBLE BASS Karen Dakin Ian Evans FLUTE Evelyn Lloyd OBOE James Williams Linda Twist CLARINET John Hutton Valmai Wyn Jones Sheena Balmain |
BASSOON Bronia Parry Charles Mainwaring HORN Diana Box Elinor Thomas TRUMPET Sid Williams Frank Boylen TROMBONE Richard Williams David Williams TIMPANI Paul Whittaker PERCUSSION Ian Belton Robert Partridge |
What the papers said: “Among
the many successful art societies in Wrexham I have come to think that Wrexham
Orchestral Society possess the greatest amount of talent. I felt I had to say this
after a most enjoyable concert at Grove Park School on November 11, at which
the attendance was lamentably small. I estimated about 250 in the audience and,
when one knows that visiting orchestras can fill the huge William Aston Hall,
it seems sad that music lovers will not support this society in its pursuit of
excellence in one of the most difficult of all artistic enterprises.
In its short life it has reached a standard where for
most of the evening it is possible to relax and enjoy the musical offerings
without having to anticipate the many odd noises which sometimes punctuate the
scores of amateur orchestras.
The three soloists of the evening were members of the
orchestra. Andrew Lansom and Evelyn Lloyd played the flute and David Riley the
violin in Bach’s fourth Brandenburg Concerto. The string section of the
orchestra offered slightly too robust a tone to match the soloists but this
work exerted its innate magic.
It’s a sound idea to include unfamiliar, even if less
good, works by Mozart, especially when accompanied, as in this case, by helpful
programme notes, but this symphony No. 31 does lack the melodic, spiritual and
imaginative richness of most of Mozart’s work.
By the time Gordon Jacobs has arranged Vaughan Williams’
arrangement of English folk songs, there’s not much of the original left.
However, the orchestra attacked these folksy morsels with admirable enthusiasm
and it was a friendly and respectful thought to commemorate the composer’s
centenary.
The concert ended with some of the orchestral suite from
Tchaikowsky’s “Sleeping Beauty”.
The Society’s next concert is during the Wrexham and
District Arts Festival in March. Let us hope that it then attracts the large
audience it deserves.” IRENE STONE.