NORFOLK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA!

Lucy playing in First Violins, second from far left!

NORFOLK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Corn Exchange, King's Lynn

Aspects of England

Vaughan Williams – Symphony No 5 in D

Elgar – Sea Pictures Op 37

Arnold – English Dances (Sets 1 & 2)

Soloist – Monika-Evelin Liiv Mezzo-Soprano

Musical Director – Philip Hesketh

Leader – Phillipa Barton

"Our vision of England has many faces and this music seeks to express them. In this programme we play quintessentially English music by three composers, each from a different generation: Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Malcolm Arnold.

In Elgar’s song cycle Sea Pictures, he sets words by five different poets. The music basks in the late-romantic glow of the Edwardian Era and expresses his deep feelings about the Sea and our relationship to it.

His younger colleague, Ralph Vaughan Williams, like many contemporaries such as Bartok and Villa-Lobos, was determined to use the tunes and harmonies of folk song as a basis for a new musical language. After the terrifying violence of his fourth symphony, his fifth comes like a healing balm, more reminiscent of the Fantasy on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. Full of peace and quietude, it contains some of his most radiantly beautiful music.

Post War England is represented by Malcolm Arnold, a composer often better known for his lighter music. The two sets of English Dances contain a wide and richly diverse variety of styles from the hauntingly melancholy to the hilarious and will bring the concert to a riotous close.

Majestic, brooding, cheeky and achingly beautiful….."

Went to watch Lucy play in the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra this afternoon at 3.30pm – brings tears to my eyes every time I watch her play – mother would have been so proud that she has carried on and not given up – the only genius in the family! Mother supported Lucy with her classical music so much and Lucy misses that hugely. I sat next to a very nice elderly lady who had booked at the last moment – we chatted before the concert started and I discovered she knew my father! She recalled a lovely little story about father digging a new pond at HBO and some out of control dogs arrived on the scene and jumped into the new pond liner – he wasn't happy at all, she said!

The music was very beautiful and the singer's voice was so powerful, she nearly brought the roof down! It was almost a full house, I couldn't see many empty seats. Also bumped into two people I know at the hospital and another lady I used to work with at the Lynn News! Bought Lucy and I a drink in the foyer at the end of the concert and got my programmed signed by the singer, conductor, leader and Lucy!