The Exeter Symphony Orchestra (ESO) and conductor Arturo Serna are delighted to announce a concert of music by Debussy, Glinka, Saint-Saëns and Sibelius, and the première of a new work by Colin Dance, in the Holy Trinity Church, Exmouth at 7:30pm on Saturday 18 March 2023.
To open our 2023 season, we’ve chosen an eclectic programme comprising five wonderful pieces by four well-known composers and an exciting new work by our very own emerging, local talent, Colin G Dance. Colin, an Exmothian by birth and a resident of nearby Somerset, is not just ESO’s tuba player, but a talented composer. The Symphony of Somerset is his first work for full orchestra and its four movements capture characteristic songs of the south west and evoke the undulating landscape surrounding us; it promises to deliver some bucolic melodies to remember and we can’t wait to play it!
Our opening number will be the familiar Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, a grand opera by Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) based on a Pushkin poem. Next up – and in complete contrast – the well-known Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) depicts the desires and dreams of a faun in the heat of the afternoon, and his falling asleep when tired of pursuing nymphs and naiads.
Following on is the rumbustious Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah (Op 47) – the most frequently heard grand opera by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) – has been said, tantalisingly, to depict an orgiastic, drunken revel.
Our finale is the expansive Symphony No 1 in E Minor (Op 39) by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957).
