Newbury Symphony Orchestra bring cowboy swagger and yee-haw spirit to their Spring Concert this weekend

TO carry us into spring, Newbury Symphony Orchestra will be playing a programme of popular classical works filled with familiar tunes and stirring themes at St Nicolas’ Church on Saturday (7.30pm).

The centrepiece of the concert is one of Beethoven’s most well-loved symphonies, number six, the Pastoral.

Sections of the symphony have been used in numerous films and advertisements including Disney’s Fantasia, Seventies sci-fi classic, Soylent Green, and episodes of The Simpsons, making some of the passages among the best known in classical music. The symphony was first performed in 1808 in the same concert as the first performance of Beethoven’s equally famous fifth symphony, the two works together creating a marathon four-hour event.

Opening the NSO concert is Fingal’s Cave by Felix Mendelssohn, also known as the Hebrides Overture. Like the Beethoven, the key themes in this overture are familiar as they have been used in many contemporary settings including in PlayStation video game Colony Wars: Vengeance

.The third piece in the programme is Aaron Copland’s Appalacian Spring, the quintessential characterisation of the US in classical music, full of cowboy swagger and yee-haw spirit.

This is a programme designed for broad appeal – those who delight in hearing old favourites played live in Newbury plus those new to the orchestra or to classical music, who want to hear accessible but outstanding works by some of the master composers of their times.

Tickets available on Eventbrite or at the door.

Newbury Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest non-professional orchestras in England and is now in its 144th season. The orchestra comprises sixty amateur musicians of all ages and draws its members from four counties. The resident professional conductor is Dr Jonathan Williams, Director of College Music at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, and the leader is Wendy Clark