Morley Chamber Orchestra

The Morley Chamber Orchestra 2014-15 concert series begins on 23rd October with a truly adventurous programme in which works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will frame the music of the Morley composer who lost his life in the First World War.

Repertoire:

Peter Maxwell Davies: Threnody on a plainsong for Michael Vyner

The programme opens with Threnody on a plainsong for Michael Vyner, Peter Maxwell Davies’ tribute to Vyner, who as the Musical Director of the London Sinfonietta was one of the most inspirational figures in the world of contemporary music, so much so that his death in 1989 inspired compositions by Berio, Birtwistle, Górecki, Henze and Takemitsu, as well as Maxwell Davies. This work was first performed exactly 25 years ago on 23rd October 1989, just 6 days after Vyners death.


Cecil Coles: Cortege and Sorrowful Dance

Cecil Coles was a student and a tutor at Morley before he lost his life in WW1. ‘Cortege’ was from a suite he wrote called ‘Behind the Lines’ and it was used by Channel 4 as the theme music for their WW1 documentary series earlier in the year. Alongside this a new arrangement of his work ‘Sorrowful Dance’ will be receiving its first performance at the Morley Chamber Orchestra concert.

Brahms: Serenade no. 1 in D op 11

Brahms’s wrote his Serenade No.1 in 1857 as a chamber work before Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim encouraged him to complete the full orchestra version in 1859. Each of the six movements uses a Classical form and afforded Brahms the opportunity to to refine his technique for writing orchestral music in advance of composing symphonies. In his letters Brahms admitted to some misgivings about the first performance, although the reception was very positive and it has remained a favourite with audiences ever since.