Aylesbury Lunchtime Music presents

Ormonde Ensemble

22 February 2024

Starts: 12:45pm, Doors: 12:15pm

Duration: 1 hour (approx.)

£7 adults on the door (<18s & carers free)

Ormonde Ensemble

Programme

  • 1862-1918

    Deux Arabesques, L. 66 (Debussy)

    i Andantino con moto ii Allegretto scherzando

    The Two Arabesques (Deux arabesques) is a pair of arabesques composed for piano by Claude Debussy when he was still in his twenties, between the years 1888 and 1891.

    Although quite an early work, the arabesques contain hints of Debussy’s developing musical style. The suite is one of the very early impressionistic pieces of music, following the French visual art form. Debussy seems to wander through modes and keys, and achieves evocative scenes throughout both pieces. His view of a musical arabesque was a line curved in accordance with nature, and with his music he mirrored the celebrations of shapes in nature made by the Art Nouveau artists of the time. Of the arabesque in baroque music, he wrote: “That was the age of the ‘wonderful arabesque’ when music was subject to the laws of beauty inscribed in the movements of Nature herself.”

  • 1910-1981

    Summer Music, Op. 31 (Barber)

    Samuel Barber received a commission in 1953 from the Chamber Music Society of Detroit to write a piece of music for string instruments and woodwind instruments. He drew from some of his previous work, including the unpublished orchestral piece Horizon (1945), as material for Summer Music. Originally meant to be a septet for three woodwinds, three strings, and piano, Summer Music evolved into a quintet as Barber experimented with some tuning études written by hornist John Barrows for himself and his colleagues in the New York Woodwind Quintet.

    Summer Music is Barber’s only chamber composition for wind instruments, and has become a staple of the wind-quintet repertory.

  • Dreamery (Gibbs)

    A new piece composed in 2023 and premiered by the Ormonde Ensemble in September. Isa Gibbs graduated from Birmingham in 2020. This takes you through 6 phases of wonder and dream land to let your imagination be carried away.

  • String Quartet No. 1 (Tailleferre)

    i Modére, ii Intermede, iii Final. Vif – Tres rythmé – un peu plus lent

    French composer Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) composed her String Quartet over a creative two-year period between 1917-1919. Tailleferre dedicated the work to the famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein. When the work was premiered in 1919, Tailleferre was invited to join Nouveaux Jeunes (later known as Les Six), which consisted of a group of composers pushing the boundaries of music beyond impressionism and Wagnerism.

Performers

  • Ormonde Ensemble

    Wind ensemble

    Ormonde Ensemble are a London-based wind quintet who are quickly establishing themselves on the UK’s professional music scene, both collectively and individually
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Key information for concert goers

When

Every Thursday at 12:45pm (except August & over Christmas). Performances last around 60 minutes. Please enter quietly as there is a noon service in the Lady Chapel.

How much?

Entry is £7 per adult (card or cash), under 18s and carers are free. The price includes a programme. Donations are welcomed to subsidise the larger ensembles.

Where?

Performances are at St Mary’s Church in the heart of Aylesbury Old Town. See directions for further details.

Do I need to book?

No, just turn up. Doors open at 12:15 pm. Make sure you arrive in good time to get a seat.

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