Members might be amused by this YouTube video. There are others in the same style but this is very good!
Next meeting: Berlioz
The next meeting of the Society is on Monday 16 November and please note the
earlier start time of 7pm. It will be a presentation by Alastair Aberdare entitled A Berlioz Miscellany. Alastair is a member of the Berlioz Society and is a frequent contributor to the Berlioz Society Bulletin. We are delighted to welcome him to Salisbury. Berlioz was a fascinating composer who’s works were profoundly original and are frequently played today. In addition to his musical work he was an accomplished journalist and author.
For further details of the composer, his works, photographs, performances and much else go to a website dedicated to him. This site is packed with information and is well worth a look.
Remember: 7 o’clock start!
Ronald Stevenson
The next meeting is tonight, 2 November, and will concentrate on the music of Ronald Stevenson. A prolific composer of around 500 works, he was born in Blackburn in 1928 and died in Scotland in 2015. He was a pianist/composer in the manner of Liszt and Busoni. Christopher Guild will be presenting and he will play works transcribed by Stevenson composed by Percy Grainger, Busoni and the Scottish composer Ronald Centre. 7.30 as usual.
We are saddened to report the death of Vic Riches who died following a heart attack. Vic was a stalwart of the Society and was one of the founder members in 2002. He moved to Chichester about two years ago but last returned to present an evening in 2014. He will be sadly missed.
Sibelius Concert notice
Those members who came to the first meeting this year given by our chair Ed Tinline might like to know there is a live follow up, in Salisbury, to his presentation in September of Music from a Sibelius 150th Anniversary Festival!
Folke Gräsbeck (two of whose recordings he included in his programme) will be giving a piano recital on Wednesday 4th November at 7.30pm in St Martin’s Church, Salisbury.
The publicity for the event says
Finnish pianist Folke Gräsbeck has recorded much of Sibelius’s piano music for Scandinavian record label BIS’s Sibelius Complete Edition, including a well-reviewed recital on the composer’s own piano at his home Ainola.
The programme is still to be confirmed in detail, but will feature several more well known pieces such as valse triste and may well include some UK premières of Sibelius’s lesser known piano works.
Ticket Prices: £10 available at the door
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Society is on Monday 5 October – usual time, usual place. It is entitled 1911 – New music of a sunset year and will be given by Barry Conaway. It will include music by Mahler, Delius, Sibelius, Elgar and Nielsen. We look forward to seeing you there.
New season gets underway
The new season started well last night with a presentation by Ed Tinline of the
music of Sibelius. His music is familiar enough of course and it got a good hearing at this year’s proms concerts in honour of his 150th anniversary. He is Finland’s most famous composer although curiously, he spoke Swedish – a reflection of that country’s complex history.
Ed had just returned from Lahti in Finland where he attended the anniversary festival there. He selected for the Society music played at that festival which mixed familiar works with several less well known. It is often a curious fact that even top flight composers have a body of work which may seldom if ever be heard. This might be because it received a poor review when it was first performed or because the composer was unhappy with it and it was ‘withdrawn’.
The evening started with a performance of the Wood Nymph from 1894 performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Otto Vänskä in a world premier recording made in 1996, that is a century after it was composed. At 21 minutes it was quite long but contained much interesting and delightful music. It is a mystery why Sibelius never arranged for its publication but it might be because he was unsure of its merit.
After the second movement of Symphony No 3 we heard two songs sung by Lilli Paassikivi: Since then I have questioned no further and Astray from a set of songs opus 17.
Another rarely heard piece was Oceanides a ‘Rondo of the Waves’ by the same orchestra and conductor, recorded in 2003. Originally written in D Flat major, Sibelius transcribed it into D major for its first performance in the States because of the difficulty for the strings in playing it in the original key. It was favourably received.
We also heard the fourth movement from the familiar Symphony No 6 under Otto Kamu recorded last year and the evening finished with Andante Festivo op 34 performed by Tempera String Quartet.
The next evening is on October 5th.
New season kicks off at the end of the month
The new season kicks off at the end of this month with Ed Tinline playing music by
Sibelius. This is on 21st September at the usual time of 7.30. Ed is currently researching his presentation and where else but Finland itself at the 150th anniversary festival?
Copies of the programme are to be found in the Collector’s Room in Endless St; Oxfam upstairs; the Tourism Information Centre and the Library. You can also download it here:
Don’t forget you can see us on Twitter now and you can find us at @salisburyai.
On a sad note, members will be sorry to hear of the death of David Phillips who passed away on 25th of August after a short illness. David was a loyal member for many years although he wasn’t able to attend recently. Our thoughts are with his family.
Hope to see you on 21st.
#Programme for 2015/16 now being finalised
Members and supporters might like early sight of the new provisonal programme for 2015/16. We have continued the recent innovation of having a live performance even though we are called the ‘recorded’ music society. We have some speakers who are familiar as well as some new faces so there should be plenty to interest music lovers. You will find the pdf version clearer for technical reasons.
2015 16 programme (pdf)
| Date | Speaker and title |
| 2015 | |
| September 21 | Ed Tinline. Music from Sibelius 150th Anniversary Festival, Lahti, Finland |
| October 5 | Barry Conaway. ‘1911 – new music of a sunset year’ including Delius, Elgar, Mahler and Sibelius |
| October 19 | Peter Curbishley ‘… but I don’t like modern music’. Music by Schoenberg, Shostakovich and other ‘moderns’ |
| November 2 | Christopher Guild. ‘The music of Roland Center (1913 – 1973) and the influence of Britten, Shostakovich, Ravel and Vaughan Williams on his work’ (provisional title) |
| November 16 | Alastair Aberdare. ‘A Berlioz Miscellany’. Lord Aberdare is a member of the Berlioz Society |
| November 30 | Members’ Evening |
| 2016 | |
| February 1 | TBA |
| February 29 | A Baroque Evening. David Morgan, Sue Wyatt, Sally Reid and David Davies will bring their baroque instruments to give a live performance, including music by Corelli, Gottfried Finger and Handel |
| March 14 | Anthony Powell. ‘A personal musical journey – 60 years of discovery, including works by Beethoven, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, Britten and Butterworth |
| April 4 | Robin Lim. Title to be confirmed |
| April 18 | TBA |
| May 9 | Members’ evening |
| May 23 | Jon Hampton. ‘The art of the arranger’. To include works by Boccherini, arranged by Berio, Bach by Elgar and Schubert by Britten |
Please note that some elements may change so it is always worth coming to this site to get the up to date position. We are always looking for new presenters and if you would like to volunteer that would be appreciated. If you are nervous about being on your feet then someone else can do the presentation for you if you prefer. We look forward to seeing you in the autumn.
Sad news
It is with great sadness that we have to record the death on Sunday of Ron Seaman. Ron was born in Bristol in 1933 and pursued a career as an accountant. He was one of the founder members of the Society and has been a loyal supporter for all that time. Recently he was the treasurer and was once the chair. Ron had made a number of presentations the most recent being on Pietro Mascagni in April. His unfailing courtesy and quiet wit will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with Jan. Funeral was on 17th.
Final meeting of the season takes place on 1 June
The final meeting of the season takes place on 1 June at the usual place and usual time. It is a change to the programme 
and will be a presentation by Ian Lance entitled ‘A critic’s choice, 2014’.
This has been an interesting year and members have heard a range of unusual pieces, some by rarely heard composers and some lesser played works by famous composers. The new programme is in preparation and will be available later in the summer. If you have any ideas for inclusion in the programme, or you know of someone who could present something, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Salisbury Recorded Music Society 