Land and water inspires Gramaphone Society evening

The recital of recorded music presented by Kathleen Power in the Tullamore Court Hotel on last Thursday evening was mostly selected from different classical music eras: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century. Kathleen"s selection of music for this magnificent recital brought the audience on a wonderful musical journey by land and sea, which also included mountains, rivers, lakes and gardens. As Secretary of the society, Kathleen works tirelessly in the promotion of music in Tullamore, the society would be a poorer place without her. The recital began with the music from a composer who loved the countryside, Ludwig van Beethoven. The Columbia Symphony Orchestra played the 1st Movement from "Symphony No. 6". This piece has the apt title: 'Pleasant sensations awakened upon arrival in the countryside'. The poem "Trees" written by Joyce Kilmer was turned into a popular song by Oscar Rasbach and sung here by Nelson Eddy. Finlandia is a symphonic poem written by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, it is rousing and turbulent music, evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people, and it is the composer"s most famous composition. Elsewhere, French composer Joseph Canteloube collected and arranged French folk songs, which might otherwise have been forgotten. From the first series of "Songs of the Auvergne", Kiri Te Kanawa sang "Bailero" and then the group had something unusual with a short reading from a book written by David Courtney whose parents were staunch members of the Society. The book titled "Nine Lives" is a memoir of David"s life as a rescue helicopter pilot among other things; the extract from the book described the preparation and presentation of a typical Gramophone Society recital. Joaquin Rodrigo was a Spanish composer who was blind from the age of three. Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and orchestra written in 1939, it is probably Rodrigo"s best-known work, its success establishing his reputation as one of the foremost post-war Spanish composers. Then to music from one of the great nationalist composers, Bedrich Smetana. Inspired by the mythology and pastoral beauty of his Czech homeland, Smetana"s six tone poems that form "Ma vlast" (My Fatherland) are one of the best examples of Nationalism in music. Here we heard the fourth poem "From Bohemia"s Woods and Fields". Later in the recital we heard the second poem "Vltava", also known by its German name "The Moldau". The music depicts the course of the river where two streams meet and flow through the beautiful Bohemian countryside. Another great nationalist composer Antonin Dvorak went to America at age fifty and was a great influence on composers there. His Symphony No 9 popularly known as "The New World Symphony" was composed in 1893 during his time in America and first performed in Carnegie Hall. We heard the slow and serene second movement and it is said that the melody expresses the composer"s longing for his own country. After a short break the recital resumed with Rita Connolly singing "Free and Easy" from the Granuaile Suite by living composer Shaun Davey who is one of Ireland"s leading professional composers. This piece featured some beautiful uileann pipe playing by Liam O"Flynn. In July 1717 George Frederic Handel"s "Water Music" was played on a barge from Chelsea to Whitehall in London. Fifty musicians accompanied the king and his court on their journey. We heard the "English Baroque Soloists" conducted by John Elliot Gardner. As Vivaldi spent most of his life in Venice his "Storm at Sea" relates to the excitement and pleasure of viewing a storm from afar. This concerto for flute and orchestra was played by the New Irish Chamber Orchestra with soloist James Galway. In her tribute to the late great Bernadette Greevy, Kathleen selected two songs from Edward Elgar"s "Sea Pictures". As the recital came to a close we heard two pieces from Tchaikovsky"s Swan Lake and the final piece was the last movement from "The Brendan Voyage" composed by Shaun Davey. This suite is regarded as a groundbreaking, crossover work of cultural significance, a daring musical meeting between an Irish solo uileann piper and a classical symphony orchestra. Inspired by Tim Severin"s epic voyage across the Atlantic in a leather boat. And so we reached the end of our musical journey with many talking points along the way.This was an excellent recital with something to please everyone. The next recital takes place in The Tullamore Court Hotel on Thursday, November 27 at 8pm when Joan Moran and Michael Dunne will be calling the tunes. Everyone is welcome.