Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra is promising a programme of epic proportions on Saturday evening, as it unites with the horn section of Opera North.
Entitled ‘Horns and Heroes’, the concert at Ripon Cathedral calls for a large orchestra, which will include no fewer than 12 French horn players.
Helen Dawson of St Cecilia Orchestra said:
“The concert will open with Tchaikovsky’s romantic classic Romeo and Juliet. Described by Classic FM as Tchaikovsky’s ‘first true masterpiece’ and one of his most enduringly popular works, this fantasy overture is full of drama and sweeping melodies, and its love theme has been used in countless films.
“Next, the orchestra will be joined by the four horn players of Opera North – Alex Hamilton, John Pratt, Sam Yates and David Tollerton – in Schumann’s inventive and compelling Konzertstück.
“Written in 1849 to showcase the horn section of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzertstück is a virtuosic work, exploiting the full range and capability of the valve horns that were only just coming into fashion.”
After the interval, the concert will turn to Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, which he began working on in 1898 with the intention of writing a “heroic work” like Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.
Called A Hero’s Life, the piece features eight French horn players, a large wind and brass section, multiple percussion players, two harps and a string section.
Ms Dawson added:
“Strauss’s writing for orchestra is always virtuosic and Ein Heldenleben does not disappoint here – the eighth of his tone poems, Heldenleben exceeds any of its predecessors in its orchestral demands and should make for an exciting and spectacular conclusion to the concert.”
Tickets, priced at £20 for adults and free for under 18s, are available via Ticketsource, from the Little Ripon Bookshop, and on the door.
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