Visitors to Winchelsea on the evening of Saturday May 20 would have seen a queue outside the church of St Thomas, and on enquiry would have discovered that it was made up of hopefuls wanting tickets for the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra concert. This event, held under the auspices of Winchelsea Arts, formed part of the town’s flower festival, this year themed around ‘Creation ‘. Inside the church every available seat had been deployed to accommodate the capacity audience.
The evening’s music did not disappoint, under the energetic but disciplined guidance of Marcio da Silva this group of players, the first fully-professional orchestra in Hastings since the 1930s, filled the building with a warm and engaging sound which delighted the ear. It is wonderful to see Hastings once again build a reputation for top-class music-making, recalling the glory days of the first half of the 20th century when it was a mecca for great conductors – Beecham, Boult, Barbirolli – and distinguished soloists – Rachmaninov, Rubinstein and Casals, for example.
The evening began with Faure’s suite drawn from his incidental music to the play ‘Pelleas et Melisande’. A sinuous and sultry string sound embodied the passion and romance of this piece, beautifully counterpointed by delicate woodwind playing and glittering harp. This last instrument was key in the Vaughan Williams ‘Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus’ that followed. Combined now with just the orchestra’s string section, the composer’s sonorous harmonies and sweeping gestures were deftly realised as the beautiful central tune was developed and decorated, only to die away in the final melancholy chord sequence.
After the interval came Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, ‘The Pastoral’. In a church full of flowers and in a creation-centred flower festival there could scarcely have been a more fitting piece. The various country scenes and weathers sprang to life, thanks to the creative relationship between conductor and orchestra, and the audience was bowled along, greeting the triumphant final chord with sustained, hearty applause.
Bravo, Mr da Silva and fellow musicians: this was an inspiring evening’s celebration of creativity.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .