Havant Symphony Orchestra

Havant and District Orchestral Society

Three British composers, all adept at writing for stage and film, stand alongside a giant of German romanticism in this feast of great classics!
Vaughan Williams’ Overture ‘The Wasps’ was written for a stage production of the play of that name by Aristophanes. The Overture has remained a favourite with its buzzing imitation of wasps introducing sweeping memorable tunes.
In 1936 Benjamin Britten was asked to write music for a documentary film and chose to orchestrate five of the twelve songs written by Rossini. He later adapted these slightly to create this delightful suite, ‘Soirees Musicales’.
Our third English composer, William Walton does us a great service here by bringing into the limelight the often overlooked viola! His Viola Concerto was written in 1929 and premiered by a composer who also played the viola, Paul Hindemith. We are very excited to welcome Shiry Rashkovsky to play it for us.
The final work in this concert is the Symphony no. 1 by a composer who needs no introduction – the great Johannes Brahms!