Rousing Brit tunes ( even if you’re not a rugby fan)
If
you can’t beat ’ em; join ’ em. With all eyes on the Lions’ tour, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is waging a battle for our ears What: with a three- part British Festival that coincides — almost — with the rugby matches.
The festival kicks off this month in Wellington with the one- night- only Lands of Hope and
Glory, presented by mezzo soprano Helen Medlyn.
This features best- loved music from the British Isles: Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Edward Elgar’s Pomp and
Circumstance March No 1 ( the basis for Land of Hope and Glory) and a medley of classic
folk songs like Danny Boy, Molly Malone, My Bonnie, Scarborough Fair and All Through the Night. There are some Kiwi touches. Renowned local composer Douglas Lilburn studied under Vaughan Williams — enough of a British connection for Lilburn’s Aotearoa Overture, first played in London in 1940, to be included. One of our own folk songs, Pokarekara Ana, will also feature. A week later, Sir James MacMillan, one of Britain’s greatest living composers and conductors, and virtuoso Scottish percussionist Colin Currie, arrive for the Bold Worlds and Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra concerts. The latter will see Sir James and Currie join forces with the National Youth Orchestra, including the world premiere of works by young Kiwi composers Celeste Oram and Reuben Jelleyman, who are National Youth Orchestra composers in residence.