A timely concert
Concert playbill
The other day, one of my staff walked into my office and asked me a question which drew me up short: Could I name some famous British composers? He went on to explain that he knew lots of French and German composers … and, of course, Russian composers but he had realized that he couldn’t name any British ones.
After a few moments thought I rattled off a short list: Elgar, (who used to live just up the road from where I was born in Malvern – but I am not sure that this impressed him); Benjamin Britten; Arthur Sullivan; Andrew Lloyd Webber; Howard Goodall, (whom I used to teach – but I don’t think that impressed him either); Henry Purcell; Ralph Vaughan Williams; Henry Wood; Michael Tippet; William Walton; Peter Maxwell Davies; Sir Hubert Parry; Thomas Arne; William Byrd; …
I could see that he wasn’t impressed with this long list, (although I was), even with my “personal connections”, saying that he had never heard of them. I tried to point out that many foreign composers like Handel and Haydn also had connections with Britain, but this didn’t help. So I told him to go away and “wiki-it”. He did and Wikipedia came up with an even longer list, (most of whom I have to admit I have never heard of), and I was surprised to see that it came up with names like Samuel Coleridge Taylor and William Wordsworth, (whom I would never have associated with music, thinking of them just as poets). It also came up with Gustav Holst, whom I thought was German, or Scandanavian.
Later that day, as it happened, I received a notice about a concert by the Chui Chamber Orchestra to be performed in the Phiharmonia tonight. I immediately printed a copy our and showed it to him … the concert will include Benjamin Britten’s ”Simple Symphony” … perhaps he would like to go and hear it.
Now, to be honest, I don’t know the work. I have never heard it, and I have no idea whether he will like it. On the other hand, the title implies that it shouldn’t be too heavy; he has a fairly catholic taste in music and I do know that the Chui Chamber Orchestra are good; so I felt reasonably confident about the recommendation.
The Chui Chamber Orchestra has been around for 17 years. It was originally founded in March 1994 and consists of some 20-odd like-minded, young – many of them either students or graduates of the Kyrgyz National Conservatory – enthusiasts.
Although they call themselves a “chamber orchestra”, they actually have quite a wide repertoire, from Baroque to contemporary modern music. As well as a wide variety of well known foreign composers, they perform works by Kyrgyz composers and someone posted this short clip on youtube of them playing a piece by Toktogul Satilganov:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyJ4GcmISdw
As well as the concerts they give here in Bishkek, (in concert halls – including charitable concerts in support of, for example, the Red Crescent Society and the International Children’s Fund project “Meerim” – “Altyn Balalyk” – but also in nursing homes, orphanages, and military units), they have also performed abroad; in Germany, Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan.
Tonight’s programme will feature well-known works by the seventeenth and eighteenth century composers Johann Pachelbel, George Frederick Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as well as works by twentieth century composers Benjamin Britten and Semuel Barber and the Kyrgyz premiere of Giya Kancheli’s “Largo and Allegro”.
To be honest, (and here I am probably showing my ignorance), I have no idea who Pachelbel, Barber and Kancheli are, but I know the others and, for my colleague, I noted their connection with Britain.
Unfortunately, I can’t go … I have a meeting at that time, so I’ll have to wait for their next concert.
For the record: The concert is being supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Chui oblast administration, the National Philharmonic Society and is sponsored by the Microcredit Company, “Companion”, (a “community development financial institution” established by Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan in 2004. Which works throughout the country providing services to almost 120000 people – which makes it the second largest financial institution in Kyrgyzstan as measured by the number of customers), and earlier this year they also sponsored a CD of seven classical works performed by the orchestra.
The Orchestra have a website, (in Russian only) which gives a brief history, news of forthcoming events, a list of their extensive repertoire, press notices, a photo gallery as well as contact details and a guestbook for users to leave comments: http://www.chko.in.kg/index.shtml
Bishkek