BSO Chamber Orchestra Concert

Deddington Church 17 October 2009, 7.30pm

We are very pleased to invite you to our first BSO Chamber Orchestra concert.

Our programme will include: 

• Rossini's Overture - Italian Girl in Algiers
• Mozart's Serenade for orchestra in D major, K. 250 (Haffner Serenade)
• Haydn's Symphony no. 104 (The London Symphony)

The concert programme and pictures from the performance have been added below:

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          Programme Part 1.  Part 2.

L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca.

Rossini wrote L'Italiana in Algeri when he was 21. The opera was composed in either 18 or 27 days, depending on which source one believes. Rossini entrusted the composition of the recitatives as well as the aria "Le femmine d'Italia" to an unknown collaborator. The opera is notable for Rossini's mixing of opera seria style in opera buffa.

The overture is widely recorded and performed today, known for its distinct opening of slow, quiet pizzicato basses, leading to a sudden loud burst of sound from the full orchestra. This "surprise" hearkens an early admiration for Joseph Haydn, whose Symphony No. 94 in G major, "The Surprise Symphony", is so named for the same shocking, semi-comic affect.

The work was first performed at the Teatro San Benedetto, Venice on May 22, 1813. It was a notable success and Rossini made progressive changes to the work for later performances in Vicenza, Milan and Naples, during the following two years.

Haydn's Symphony no. 104 (The London Symphony) 

The Symphony No. 104 in D major (Hoboken 1/104) is Joseph Haydn's final symphony. It is the last of the twelve so-called London Symphonies, and is known (somewhat arbitrarily, given the existence of eleven others) as the London Symphony.

The work was composed by Haydn while he was living in London in 1795, and premiered there at the King’s Theatre on 4 May 1795, in a concert consisting entirely of Haydn's own compositions and directed by the composer. The premiere was a success; Haydn wrote in his diary "The whole company was thoroughly pleased and so was I. I made 4000 gulden on this evening: such a thing is possible only in England."

The work is for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons, two horns in D and G, two trumpets in D, timpani and strings.

Movements

Adagio – Allegro

Andante

Menuetto and Trio: Allegro

Finale: Spiritoso

First movement

The symphony opens with a slow and grand introduction in D minor, which leads to the first movement proper in D major. This is in sonata form and starts in cut time. The movement is monothematic: the second theme is simply the first theme transposed to A major. The exposition is in D Major, with the strings playing the first theme. The theme goes straight into A Major with the woodwinds to form a second theme; there is no modulation involved in this key change. The exposition closes with a codetta and is followed by the development which begins in B minor, using the rhythmic pattern of the second half of the theme. The development ends with the full orchestra. In the recapitulation, the first theme is heard again in D Major. It uses imitative patterns of the woodwinds in the second theme. The piece closes with a coda, also in D major.

Second movement

This movement, in G major, opens with the main theme in the strings. After this, a brief episode highlighting A minor and D minor leads to a modified repeat of the main theme in both strings and bassoon. From here, a second section begins which modulates to various other keys, including G minor and B flat major, but continues to feature the melody of the main theme. After arriving on the dominant of G major, the music of the first section returns. The rest of the movement consists of a modification of the first section of music, with several changes in rhythm and more prominence to the winds, especially the flute.

Third movement

The third movement is a minuet and trio in D major. The minuet section consists of a ternary (ABA) form with an opening section emphasizing the tonic, while the second section visits the relative minor (B minor) and the dominant (A major). The trio is in B flat major, and uses the oboe and bassoon extensively. Like in the minuet, this trio's B section emphasizes the relative minor (in this case, G minor). The trio ends with a transition back to dominant of the main key in preparation for the return to the minuet.

Fourth movement

The exuberant finale, in fast tempo and in sonata form, opens in the mode of folk music using a drone bass and a theme often claimed to have originated as a Croatian folk song; for details see Haydn and folk music. The development section settles on the dominant of the main key, as is typical, but atypically, the recapitulation does not occur immediately. Instead, the development is extended with a section in F sharp minor, after which the recapitulation in D major follows immediately.

 Mozart's Serenade for orchestra in D major, K. 250 (Haffner Serenade)

Serenade for orchestra in D major, K. 250, popularly known as the Haffner Serenade, is a serenade by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart named for the Haffner family. Mozart's friend and contemporary Sigmund Haffner the Younger commissioned the serenade to be used in the course of the festivities before the wedding of his sister Marie Elisabeth Haffner and her intended, Franz Xaver Spaeth. The Serenade was first played on 21 July 1776, on the eve of the wedding. It is in eight movements:

Allegro maestoso - Allegro molto

II. Andante

III. Menuetto

IV. Rondeau: Allegro

V. Menuetto galante

VI. Andante

VII. Menuetto

VIII. Adagio - Allegro assai

The second, third and fourth movements feature prominent violin solos. Indeed, the rondeau (the fourth movement) has been arranged for solo violin and used as a popular virtuoso piece.