RAMSBOTTOM RECORDED MUSIC SOCIETY

AT last Thursday’s society meeting our good friend and member Roger Heywood presented a programme entitled ‘In Nature’s Realm’, in a change to the advertised programme.

He began his presentation by playing Dvorak’s overture ‘In Nature’s Realm’, which depicted pastoral poetry with fine joyful delivery – a good first piece of music to introduce us to an evening of homage to nature.

Next we heard ‘The Happy Forest’, a nature poem composed by Sir Arnold Bax in 1922.

This was followed by extracts from ‘The Birds’ by Respighi, music that was familiar to us as it was the signature tune to the antique quiz show ‘Going for a song’.

To take us to the interval Roger played the second movement from the Czech composer Smetana’s ‘Ma Vlast’ suite, entitled ‘Moldau’, which depicts the river which flows through the country’s capital, Prague.

The first half ended with the well known English folk song arrangement by Percy Grainger’s ‘Shepherd’s Hey’.

The second half of the evening began with music by Vaughan Williams, the second movement from his ‘Pastoral Symphony which received its first performance in 1921.

This was followed by another Vaughan Williams work, his very popular, beautiful short work, ‘The Lark Ascending’ with Tasmin Little playing the violin.

To bring his presentation to a close Roger played the last two movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 in F, ‘Pastoral’, a fitting end to a most enjoyable balmy Spring evening of music.

For further details please contact Richard Hall on 01706 823490.