Review: Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra, St James' Church, Dursley

THE 75-strong Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra received a right royal welcome from Dursley music lovers and the large audience was generous in its applause throughout. The orchestra, which is celebrating its sixtieth birthday this year, brought with it an extremely popular programme. It performed well in spite of the necessarily cramped conditions in the East end of the church. Clearly, there is a fruitful relationship with its conductor, Glyn Oxley, and under his energetic baton we heard four splendid performances from these young players.

The concert opened with Tchaikovsky's absorbing music for Romeo and Juliet which right from the start revealed the depth and quality of the strings led with panache by Therese de Sousa. This variously exciting, poignant and contemplative work came across well although occasionally the balance between strings and brass and percussion could have been better. Barber's popular Adagio For Strings has a haunting quality and is slow with a melancholy underlay. It received a loving performance with great attention to detail. Faure's Pavane consists of a short, simple melody frequently repeated by violins, oboes and others as in a slow stately dance. It is somewhat repetitive but received a confident performance.

Then on to the main work of the concert: The Planets by Gustav Holst. This must have posed problems for the conductor as the non-absorbent nature of a church's fabric can lead to balance difficulties. The percussion section and some of the brass had to be kept on a tight rein to avoid drowning the strings. The opening section, Mars, was a case in point where the decibel levels were only just tolerable. After that, things improved with the calm and peace of Venus and Mercury, where the Winged Messenger "flits by on transparent gossamer wings", restless and driven. The central hymn-like tune of Jupiter was well performed. Then on to Saturn with its slowly plodding beat ending in serene old age followed by a contrasting Uranus - a whirligig of frenzied energy from the whole orchestra - which concluded a mostly satisfactory account of this work. It had been a highly enjoyable concert by these talented young musicians.

Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra - Tewkesbury Abbey

Monday 29th March 2010

Brimming with talent, Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra gave a tremendous charity concert organised by Tewkesbury Rotary Club.

Beginning with Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony (Pastoral), the gentle string tones were often muffled by the Abbey acoustics. Dominant themes in each section of the orchestra were clear but the heavy texture of Beethoven’s orchestration often obliterated the nuances conductor Glyn Oxley strove to elicit. Throughout the evening he strictly controlled rhythm and tempo, the orchestra responding with sympathy and skill.

Obversely Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition did not succumb to the acoustics. Embracing all the colour of Ravel’s orchestration, the musicians brought a variety of characters and scenes to life.

There was a touch of surrealism in Gnome, the dark velvet alto saxophone solo in The Old Castle and the tuba’s lumbering trudge in Bydlo with its dominant pulling motion. After a busy bustling Market and reflective Catacombs the work culminated with impressive and stately playing of The Great Gate of Kiev.

The piece de resistance was Tchaikovsky’s spectacular 1812 Overture.

With sweeps of pure melodic Tchaikovsky interspersed with strident brass, from the quiet low string introduction to a blazing double-fortissimo conclusion each orchestral section excelled. Brass and wind fanfares and anthems shone through boldly, strings scurried and flurried whilst the hard-working battery of percussion proudly and loudly contributed.With an obvious check of tempo preceding the grand climax, the addition of an electronic cannon and the Abbey’s own peal of bells ascertained a crowning triumph.

This dramatic performance received a standing ovation.

Jill Bacon

Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra Christmas Concert 2009 - Cheltenham Town Hall

Monday 7th December 2009 

Wow - what a treat! If you missed this concert you'll kick yourself.

Excellent programming of refreshingly different festive fare combined with first-class delivery ensured that highlights percolated this concert.

With the pantomime season in full swing three movements from Carl Nielsen's Aladdin Suite painted Eastern scenes. A resounding stately Festival March moved to an ethereal hymn-like Aladdin's Dream followed by ominous dramatic chromaticisms and clashing chords in Dance of the Prisoners.

Outstanding diction and notational clarity hallmarked the County Junior Choir's Jingle Bell Rock and Dormi, Dormi, O Bel Bambin sung in Italian with crisp rapid-tongued fal-la-las.

Permeated with jazz idioms and jaunty cowboy rhythms John Dankworth's setting of Tom Sawyer's Saturday flowed smoothly between narrator and orchestra. An entertaining and impressive narration in strong American accent was provided by talented orchestra player Jonathan Hyde relating the amusing incident of whitewashing Aunt Polly's fence.

Unequivocally successful was the string performance of Corelli's Christmas Concerto. Responding sensitively to Glyn Oxley's direction of the dynamics and tempi soloists and ripieno players were well-balanced in sound and blend. Pauses were noticeably clean and pertinent.

Commissioned by the GYO the evening's premiered work was Alan Williams' atmospheric Winter Songs. Despite finding the contemporary atonal composition a challenge, the choirs succeeded in conveying the wintery picture. In the last song, In the Week When Christmas Comes, the orchestra overshadowed words and voices.

Rounding off the concert with two further movements from Nielsen's Aladdin the orchestra coped brilliantly with difficult and kaleidoscopic sounds representing the Eastern souks. This cacaphony resolved into a vividly energetic whirling Negro Dance which ended a stupendous  evening.

Jill Bacon