Intermediate Orchestra

Programme notes

NYIO have prepared a varied and challenging programme demonstrating a range of musical styles. The first term is always particularly demanding with many new players and the orchestra taking time to gel together. It's been great to see the orchestra's progression this term!

1. Montagues and Capulets

We begin with music from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. Used widely in TV and film including as the theme tune for the BBC's The Apprentice, the Montagues and Capulets music conveys the angst and bitterness of the two fighting families. Prokofiev takes traditional harmonies and supplements them with deliberate dissonances to create a tense atmosphere. Following a tranquil middle section, the battle again resumes.

2. Sleigh Ride

Born in Bradford in 1862, Frederick Delius had a unique compositional style that did not earn recognition until later on in the composer's life. Originally titled 'Winter Night', Sleigh Ride begins quietly with the sound of distant sleigh bells and a piccolo solo. As the sleigh approaches, the music gets louder and the piccolo theme is taken up by the whole orchestra. After a more reflective, lyrical middle section, the sleigh returns before disappearing into the night.

3. Jeux d'enfants - March - Duo - Gallop

Originally composed for piano four hands, Bizet orchestrated several movements from his Jeux d'enfants (children's games). The March evokes a toy trumpet and drum, naturally portrayed by the trumpet and percussion sections, which play military rhythms. The warm, calm Duo is followed by the energetic dash of the Gallop with its single theme repeated in various guises.

4. The Nutcracker - March - Pas de Deux

We end the concert with two dances from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. Set at Christmas time and now traditionally performed during the Christmas period each year, the ballet tells the tale of Clara and an enchanted toy nutcracker. The two dances we will be performing come from Act II and Clara's adventure in the Land of the Sweets. The March begins with a repeating brass fanfare, alternating with stately strings and sudden interjections from the whole orchestra. The fanfare later returns over the top of rapid scalic figures passing through the whole string section to a flute and piccolo flourish. The music for the Pas de Deux is built from a descending scale that begins quietly over a harp accompaniment and builds up to a grand climax for the whole orchestra.