Tayside Symphony Orchestra players gave us a very interesting recital on 26th September. The Brandenburg Concerto No.3 by J.S. Bach was followed by "Lyra Angelica" by William Alwyn (for string instruments and harpist); after the interval, the orchestra played the Serenade for Strings op. 20 by Edward Elgar and lastly Symphony No.22 ("The Philosopher") by Joseph Haydn- truly very different works! This was a challenging programme, well met by the players and skilfully held together by conductor Ron Walker.
In the Bach work the playing was generally very good, but I felt that the cellos and double bass occasionally overwhelmed the other strings. While the Brandenburg Concerto and the two works after the interval were probably fairly well known (although the Haydn work is very seldom heard), the second piece, the "Lyra Angelica" was certainly not! It was excellently played by all, the harpist Sophie Crichton blending very well with the Orchestra, who themselves rose to the sometimes difficult music. I noted that the contrast of the strings with the harp was "very noticeably effective".
After the interval, the Elgar Serenade was very well played; I was very pleased with the clarity of the playing that was very evident. Finally, the four parts of the Haydn symphony were again excellently played, with the two cor anglais and two french horns in particular displaying excellent work. All in all, it was a very interesting group of works, and the Orchestra played them very well.