Accomplishments and Ambitions for the Future
The OSO aims to introduce to its players and audiences works which they would rarely encounter elsewhere if at all. Some of these pieces are aurally challenging like Messiaen’s L’Ascension, Milhaud’s Saudades do Brazil and Arnold’s Fantasia on a Theme of John Field. Others have been unjustifiably neglected works such as Parry’s Fifth Symphony, Balakirev’s First and Kodaly’s Symphony, written in the composer’s eightieth year.
The first British performance of Grondahl’s Bassoon Concerto was the ninth in the world. Local composer Jordan Hunt was eighteen at the time of his composition Fantasia on a Theme of Arne and studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Cortege: Riley’s Reward by local Graham Marshall was written for the funeral of the late Margaret Riley, former Mayor of Oldham, on Thursday February 5th 2004. Marshall says of the work: “I had been invited to play the organ for the service in Oldham parish church, which was filled with worshippers gathered to celebrate the life of one of Oldham’s well-known and much-loved characters in the spheres of education and politics. Having been asked to play something suitably solemn yet regal as Margaret’s body was brought into church, I thought the occasion deserved to be marked by a specially composed Cortège, hence this little Riley’s Reward, which, in its orchestral version may, I hope, serve as a concert piece on appropriate occasions.” It had its World premier with the OSO on 11th July 2004. The OSO would like to continue to support young and local composers by commissioning new works from them, giving them a platform for their work and experience working with an orchestra; money raised by sponsorship would enable us to provide a valuable experience for composer, orchestra and audience alike, and help keep music alive today.
Panufnik’s Sinfonia Sacra, with its four trumpets situated at the corners of the auditorium is rarelyperformed and in the Grange Arts Centre, Oldham was particularly effective. Respighi’s Pines of Rome calls for a particular recording of a nightingale, and ancient Roman trumpets (we managed the former, but in common with most orchestras improvised the latter with flugel horns).
Works which have fallen from fashion such as Sullivan’s Irish Symphony, the lovely First Symphony by the ‘Russian Schubert’ Kalinnikov and Delius’s evocative Florida Suite illustrate yet another of our programme planning.
Oldham has had the opportunity to sample Zemlinsky (Schoenberg’s teacher) in two works, his Second Symphony and Maeterlinck Lieder.
Orchestrations of works that were originally intended for other instruments have also featured. Szell’s reworking of Smetana’s From My Life string quartet, Schoenberg’s orchestration of Brahms’s G minor Piano Quartet (some wit crossed out the word orchestration in one of the parts and subtitled castration) and Joachim’s revamp of Schubert’s C major Piano Duo (which he thought was the lost C major symphony) have been performed).
More standard repertoire has included major symphonies by Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Dvorak and Brahms.
Of Niels Viggo Bentzon’s Eastern Gasworks No. 2 (possibly Opus 255b) what can be said?
OSO has also produced some large-scale works such as Orff’s Carmina Burana with a large choir and soloists and Holst’s The Planets, which featured a talk from the Manchester Astronomical Society, together with image projections during the performance courtesy of a local astronomer and a barrage of percussionists. We would like to embrace similarly ambitious works such as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with choir and soloists amongst others.
The first British performance of Grondahl’s Bassoon Concerto was the ninth in the world. Local composer Jordan Hunt was eighteen at the time of his composition Fantasia on a Theme of Arne and studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Cortege: Riley’s Reward by local Graham Marshall was written for the funeral of the late Margaret Riley, former Mayor of Oldham, on Thursday February 5th 2004. Marshall says of the work: “I had been invited to play the organ for the service in Oldham parish church, which was filled with worshippers gathered to celebrate the life of one of Oldham’s well-known and much-loved characters in the spheres of education and politics. Having been asked to play something suitably solemn yet regal as Margaret’s body was brought into church, I thought the occasion deserved to be marked by a specially composed Cortège, hence this little Riley’s Reward, which, in its orchestral version may, I hope, serve as a concert piece on appropriate occasions.” It had its World premier with the OSO on 11th July 2004. The OSO would like to continue to support young and local composers by commissioning new works from them, giving them a platform for their work and experience working with an orchestra; money raised by sponsorship would enable us to provide a valuable experience for composer, orchestra and audience alike, and help keep music alive today.
Panufnik’s Sinfonia Sacra, with its four trumpets situated at the corners of the auditorium is rarelyperformed and in the Grange Arts Centre, Oldham was particularly effective. Respighi’s Pines of Rome calls for a particular recording of a nightingale, and ancient Roman trumpets (we managed the former, but in common with most orchestras improvised the latter with flugel horns).
Works which have fallen from fashion such as Sullivan’s Irish Symphony, the lovely First Symphony by the ‘Russian Schubert’ Kalinnikov and Delius’s evocative Florida Suite illustrate yet another of our programme planning.
Oldham has had the opportunity to sample Zemlinsky (Schoenberg’s teacher) in two works, his Second Symphony and Maeterlinck Lieder.
Orchestrations of works that were originally intended for other instruments have also featured. Szell’s reworking of Smetana’s From My Life string quartet, Schoenberg’s orchestration of Brahms’s G minor Piano Quartet (some wit crossed out the word orchestration in one of the parts and subtitled castration) and Joachim’s revamp of Schubert’s C major Piano Duo (which he thought was the lost C major symphony) have been performed).
More standard repertoire has included major symphonies by Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Dvorak and Brahms.
Of Niels Viggo Bentzon’s Eastern Gasworks No. 2 (possibly Opus 255b) what can be said?
OSO has also produced some large-scale works such as Orff’s Carmina Burana with a large choir and soloists and Holst’s The Planets, which featured a talk from the Manchester Astronomical Society, together with image projections during the performance courtesy of a local astronomer and a barrage of percussionists. We would like to embrace similarly ambitious works such as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with choir and soloists amongst others.