Last Saturday my wife and I took a trip to Worcestershire. We went to Pershore Abbey, which dates centuries before the American nation was even thought of. We had gone to hear a performance by the Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra. This is not a well-established professional outfit, but a band of dedicated amateurs and students who wish to make good music together. Offspring Senior also happened to be a member of the ensemble.
We got to the venue and I took one look at the shape of the venerable old building and thought "the acoustic is going to be awful". How wrong I was!
You could sit anywhere in the building and get a beautiful sound. It was wonderful. All concert venues should be shaped like this - using high vaulted ceilings and great 10ft-diameter pillars to support it. Admittedly the pillars severely restricted the view - but the sound was what we had really come for and that was perfect.
We were treated to Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre, Pavanne by Gabriel Faure, Maurice Ravel's
Mother Goose Suite, and finally the stirring Symphony in D minor by Franck.
An unbelievably beautiful concert by a dedicated group of musicians who were completely uncluttered by fame or fortune. They just did it because they like to make music.
I am glad that my son was associated with this concert. I am also glad that he wants to contribute to the next concert by this orchestra, which is at St George's Church, Barbourne, Worcestershire, England, on Saturday, March 10 at 7.30 pm. The programme will include Haydn, Shostakovich and Dvorak.
See you there!
PS: Why the hell does the spell-checker on Blogger insist on American mis-spellings? Can't they have a version for us Brits who want to spell correctly instead of the stupid American way?
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