Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra

“Like his personality, his music veers from extrovert warmth and geniality to deep introspective melancholy” aptly describes Edward Elgar’s work. Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra’s (WSO) long-term conductor, Guy Woolfenden described Elgar’s second symphony, composed in 1911, as “bitter, one of his sad, melancholic works”. This second symphony is a much more complex work than his first - the string sections will be the first to admit to that; the dreaminess of that one is gone, an inner restlessness and mood is evident in this extremely expressive work full of examples of the composer’s unique mastery of composition. This was well demonstrated in WSO’s efforts in the slow movement often considered to be a funeral march as a tribute to Edward VII who died in 1910, the five French horns giving a very good account of themselves.  However, the music is also a reflection of the loss of special friends, amongst them,  the Liverpool businessman Alfred Rodewald, to whom Elgar dedicated his  Pomp and Circumstance March No 1, better known as ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.

This hour long work required tenacious leadership by Conductor, Roger Coull and his first violin desk where George Ewart stubbornly refused to be hurried. With all string desks helping to construct a glorious finish to the opening movement, the wind section enjoyed the presence of a contrabassoon to assist in engineering a moving fade to the slow movement. The final movement demanded a significant percussion contribution with timpanist, Seb Farrall responding to the composer’s wish for total commitment. To some extent this effort made up for a rather unfortunate disconnect between conductor and percussion in the earlier performance of Smetana’s Vltava!

WSO’s spring concert opened with Shostakovich’s exciting Festive Overture in A major – a pleasing start to this 2024 season with new committee leadership in the hands of Chris Voss, long time string section member. Outstanding trumpet fanfares led the way, wind players introduced delightful trills, bassoons worked in tune with the delightful pizzicato playing by viola desks, before the mad dash to the final flourish.

In the memory of Malcolm Rowson, bassoonist, Patrick Hinks presented the 2024 WSO ‘double reed award’ to oboeist Justin Karki, a student at King Edward VI, Stratford.