Spring Concert

Exeter Symphony Orchestra

Exeter Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is proud to present its spring concert featuring the Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor by Felix Mendelssohn, with soloist Brian Low Rhung Wei, Béla Bartók’sConcerto for Orchestra and A Moorland Suite by Gustav Holst.

The evening opens with the first of two piano concertos composed by Mendelssohn and we are delighted to welcome the emerging artist Brian Low Rhung Wei to perform it. Mendelssohn completed the concerto in Italy in 1831 and then travelled to Paris where Franz Liszt sight-read the piece faultlessly from the new, barely legible score; the great virtuoso gave the piece his instant seal of approval, while the admiring composer could only describe the impromptu rendition as “a miracle, a miracle!”

Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra does, to coin a strapline, exactly what it says on the score: it offers a performance work-out for the entire orchestra. Composed in 1943 – three years after the Hungarian’s emigration to the USA – and premiered in Boston, its five movements have been likened to a symphony, although the composer maintained that its soloistic and virtuosic content made it a concerto. Whatever the label, the work exploits the range and colour of almost every instrument, and frequently juxtaposes dissimilar sections and sounds to produce a melodious whole. It really is like no other piece! 

A Moorside Suite was commissioned by the BBC for the National Brass Band Championship of Great Britain in 1928. It was the first and only piece Holst ever wrote for brass band, but it was very well received; indeed,its merit was quickly recognised by none other than Gordon Jacob – the prolific Royal College of Music professor of National Anthem fanfare fame – who arranged the excellent orchestral version the ESO will play.