Una Discamus

Sponsored by Wellington College PTA

Ulster Orchestra

 

On Thursday 3rd March, pupils involved in GCSE and A-level music went to see the Ulster Orchestra for a ‘Time Travel’ concert that described each of the different eras of music. Unfortunately, we arrived late due to a mix up of the venue, but arrived at the Ulster Hall not long after the concert had begun. As we arrived, the violins finished off their performance of Rondo from Abdelazar. The violins were all dressed in yellow, in order to help us understand the different sections of the orchestra. They were joined by more yellow-shirted strings, violas and cellos, to perform La Rejouissance by Handel. This concluded the Baroque period, and the green-shirted flute, oboe and clarinet players introduced the woodwind section in Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, followed by the well-known Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven. The rest of the woodwind section, bassoon and cor anglais, entered as well as timpani for percussion as Brahms 2nd symphony was about to be played. As we moved into the 20th century , the blue brass players entered along with most of the percussion section in red for Stravinsky’s The Firebird. This was possibly the best piece of music as the dynamics and energy were incredible and mixed with the percussion, it was well received by pupils and teachers alike. From Russia we came home to Britain and to Britten himself. We started with his earliest piece of music, ”The young Persons’ Guide to the Orchestra”. We then moved on to Britten’s “Storm” from the four sea Interludes. Unfortunately, Britten died at the age of 62 and the next piece of music written by Arvo Pärt, to commemorate his death. It was named Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten. The piece started and ended with 4 chimes of a bell, first soft and through the piece it had a gradual crescendo so as it ended the chimes were at a forte. This was to symbolize the carriage as it drew closer to the church. From classical music we came to a new genre, musicals and possibly the most famous musical composer , Andrew Lloyd Webber. The orchestra played “Jellical Ball” from Cats. The final piece of music was a modern classic. Everyone in the audience knew it and we couldn’t help but smile when Pirates of the Caribbean started up.

All in all it was a good day out and the standard of music was brilliant. We would all like to say a big thank you to Mrs McCloskey for organising the trip and for all the teachers who came with us. Thank you. ļ

David Montgomery and Nathan Wafflart.