Another Ealing Symphony Orchestra Success

This was another enterprising (and successful!) concert by one of our finest non-professional orchestras in the country. It took place on Saturday 11 February 2023 at St Barnabas Church, Ealing, London at 7.30pm.

Under the ever-adventurous baton of Music Director, John Gibbons, the programme was a long one with plenty of interest in the chosen repertoire. Gibbons enjoys playing less well represented works in the English symphonic context. He has given the only complete cycle of the Malcolm Arnold symphonies performed by a single orchestra and, here, he continued his interest in the cycle by George Lloyd, performing the astonishingly mature (for a 19-year-old) Symphony No. 3. Cast in interlinked movements, the music reminds me of that of Karl Amadeus Korngold in its melodic fecundity; it is simply gorgeous in its late Romantic manner. The other amazing element is its lack of any discernible influence from older sources. Written in 1933, one of three such works from that year (!) it is different from, say, the contemporary effort by Michael Tippett in his early unpublished symphony where influences abound, not least in the Sibelian opening. Not so with Lloyd. The music just appears as a stand-alone statement that follows, more or less, symphonic models. His melodies are memorable, warm and sensuous, and his finale, slightly too long perhaps, shows his love of brass writing at its most exuberant. The orchestra rose to the occasion with spirited playing and plenty of sustainability in the virtuoso writing from Lloyd’s pen.

Gibbons is a natural guide in this repertoire and must be congratulated here and, also, in the final work of the night, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances. This was his last major work and was initially heard with some consternation for its overt Romantic associations from earlier times. Gibbons and his fine instrumentalists demonstrated this glorious work’s staying power. No sneers here. Just a celebration for a work requiring virtuosity along with such warm feeling that my heart soared throughout. This was a mixture of admiration for the music as well as the playing. Marks must be given to the timpanist and First Trumpet in the first movement, both no doubt encouraged by Gibbons to give their all through startling sound effects, which introduced the whole tone of this score. It was commissioned by a virtuoso American orchestra, and I felt a similar admiration at this concert. This is a difficult work to play given its shifting moods and orchestration, and the playing was superb.

In between we heard the exquisite sounds from Harriet Williams, mezzo-soprano, strong and secure and with clear diction too. She entered into Elgar’s Sea Pictures with confidence and joy, and followed up with The Home Front by Sheldon Blair, requiring an almost operatic flair in representing the composer’s thoughts of fear and trepidation during war time.

Edward Clark for Musical Opinion, July – September 2023