We extend a warm welcome to the Mayor and Mayoress of Havant, Cllr Ken and Mrs Hazel Smith.  Their support at this concert which takes place within the Borough of Havant is much appreciated.  We are also most grateful to the Headmaster of Oaklands School, Mr Matthew Quinn, for permission to use the hall and to his staff who have been so helpful in making the necessary arrangements. 

The extra space which Oaklands School offers means that we shall have larger than usual string numbers and the acoustic should help us produce a wonderful sound.  (There’s a bold statement – tell me afterwards if I’m wrong!)  The programme is extremely varied, calling for completely different playing styles, and contains three splendid works and a favourite soloist.  It is also your first chance to meet our new Bob Harding Bursary Holder, Robert Hodge, who has made a great impression on the Orchestra in just a few rehearsals.

Many of us will be remembering our dear friend Leslie Mundy, an enthusiastic supporter of the Orchestras for many years and particularly dear to the players for providing their interval drinks (and a chat) during rehearsals.  His family have made a very generous donation in his memory towards this concert.

If you are hesitant about coming to this concert please don’t be.  The hall is easy to find, just off the A3(M), parking is free (let me know if you have transport problems), we will do all we can to make the arrangements as smooth as possible and I promise it won’t snow this time (another bold statement).  And above all I believe we will provide a memorable musical experience.

Tickets are already selling very well and so I look forward to seeing you all there, after which as we look forward to our anniversary year I should like you wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year.

My 1000 mile walk was completed on 16 October during a 12-mile walk from Arundel to Amberley (tea and cake in the very nice tearooms before they shut for the winter) and over the Downs to return in wonderful autumn weather with mist gradually lifting in the Arun valley.  Thank you all those who have been encouraging me to get out and about.  So far I have collected well over £500 from kind sponsors, many of whom have given more than they originally signed up for.  Those who are still on my list can pay when you see me – at the concert in cash, or by cheque payable to Havant Orchestras, or by BACS to CAF bank sort code 40-52-40 Acc 00017022.  (For BACS please enter your initial and surname eg ‘TBrown’ and the word ‘walk’ as reference.)  If you don’t remember how much you sponsored me for, ask at the Friends’ table or email or phone me.  I am hoping that I shall have raised, with your very welcome help over £1000 when Giftaid is included, towards our 50th Anniversary Celebrations in 2012.

Tony Gutteridge
(023 9247 4681 or acg@waitrose.com)

Congratulations Tony and a huge thank you from the Society for such a tremendous fundraising endeavour.

When Robert Hodge raises his baton to launch the HSO December concert he will be the 26th Holder of our Bob Harding Bursary for Young Conductors.  As an eager musician on the threshold of a limelight career he will have the daunting task of following in the footsteps of some very distinguished Bursary predecessors – Mark Wigglesworth, Paul Murphy, Sarah Ioannides, Rumon Gamba, Jason Lai, Ludovic Morlot and Leo Hussain to focus on just a few who have forged an international status.  I don’t think Rob will be fazed by all this for one moment.  At the Bursary auditions he came over as a very bright, confident person, communicating instantly with the players and able to charm out technical and interpretative modifications with his clear beat, spoken directions and the periodic humour of someone thoroughly enjoying himself.  I am sure he will take all the forthcoming challenges in his stride – we certainly have great hopes for him in this, our 50th anniversary season. He couldn’t have a better initiation with the combination of a sparkling Berlioz Overture and the warm, grateful acoustics of Oaklands School Hall.  Good Luck from us all, Rob, and relish the music-making.

The aura of zenithal promise also pervades the second item in the programme – Beethoven’s majestic ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto.  It is always a pleasure to work with soloist Karen Kingsley – she has constantly graced the soloist’s role with performances of clarity, thoughtfulness and penetrating musicianship and I know she is eagerly looking forward to her first ever performance of the ‘Emperor’ Concerto.  The HSO will have to be on its collective toes because this is unfamiliar ‘classical’ terrain for them – with clinically different balances, textures and colours than they normally encounter in the 19th and 20th Century music that forms the staple diet of their programmes.

Talking of ‘staple diet’ brings me obliquely onto the final work in our programme – the immensely popular 2nd Symphony of Sibelius. Despite its huge success this work is anything but staple in its inspirational fire.  It would be very easy and straightforward to follow nostalgia and concentrate on getting things accurately played, with the right balance, and in the tempos that work for the music – which is maybe what happened in our previous four performances of the symphony.  This time, over and above the basic work of welding the piece together and making a presentable sound, some deeper thoughts and interpretation probings have been very much in my mind. These include things like the speed relationships within the opening movement; a focus on the stylistically broken phrasing of melodies specified by Sibelius throughout the work; the element of rubato at the beginning of the slow movement; the complex phrase structure of the scherzo and a new thought about the Italian term suave in its trio with the famous 9-repeated-note oboe solo; the tempo transition from the Scherzo smoothly into the Finale; and the rationalisation of articulation in the Finale’s second theme (the one played by woodwind above a wave-like ostinato in lower strings).  Even the latest ‘Urtext’ edition of the Symphony (brought out in 2004) fails to address the contradictory markings in these sections.  Whatever we do here, we will ALL be doing the same, I promise you! Thus, behind the enjoyment of all your favourite moments in this epic piece there are other musical factors going on so it won’t be just routine and we wait to see whether or not the different light shines any more brightly or interestingly.