London, UK (Top40 Charts/ FIFTEENB) - The FifteenB contemporary music group (https://www.hugill.demon.co.uk/fifteenb.htm) announces a concert by the Salomon Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Brown, taking place at St James's Church, Piccadilly, London, on
Thursday March 23, 2006. The programme includes performances of Elgar's 'Serenade for Strings,' Haydn's 'Symphony No. 100, the Military,' plus the world premier of two large-scale works for orchestra by contemporary composer, Robert Hugill - 'In the Barbarian's Camp' and 'Elegy for Baritone and Orchestra.'
Haydn's 'Military Symphony' was one of several pieces written for the city of London in 1795. It uses an impressive array of percussion to produce rousing 'Turkish' music and battle descriptions. Robert Hugill's contemporary work, 'In the Barbarian's Camp,' is based on one of Helen Waddell's translations from a Latin comic poem which describes how the poet is unable to write poetry as he is living in the chaotic and malodorous camp of the barbarians. Robert's tone poem gives a description of the barbarian camp, culminating in dramatic fanfares as the barbarians go to war. The work continues with Hugill's exploration of the barbarian world seen through the eyes of Helen Waddell's versions of Latin poetry.
'In the Barbarians Camp' is a lighter companion to Hugill's previous work, the darker 'The Barbarian at the Gate,' which was premiered by the FifteenB Choir and Philharmonia Brass at the 2002 Chelsea Festival. The latest piece concludes with a rousing fanfare which Robert originally wrote for Philharmonia Brass.
The second composition to be premiered at the concert is 'Elegy for Baritone and Orchestra' – Hugill's setting for baritone and orchestra of Rainer Maria Rilke's Second Duino Elegy. The vocal part will be sung by the work's dedicatee: distinguished German baritone, David Greiner. Further information is at https://www.hugill.demon.co.uk/salomon_stjp.html
Robert Hugill comments: "The concert provides an opportunity to hear the distinguished Elgar conductor, Adrian Brown, perform one of Elgar's best loved works, 'Serenade for Strings.' While David Greiner has given recitals in the UK, this will be his first British concert with a full orchestra. David has given premieres of a number of my pieces, including the song cycle, 'Quickening.'"
Hugill adds: "In this concert, FifteenB is focusing on our usual mix of well loved classics and accessible contemporary music. By combining music by Elgar and Haydn with my lyrical and approachable modern pieces, we hope to tempt people who would not generally consider coming to a concert entirely devoted to contemporary music."
The concert takes place at 7.30pm on Thursday March 23 at St James's Church, 197 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LL. Tickets, costing 10 GBP (concessions 5 GBP) are available on the door or in advance from TicketWeb (Tel: 08700 600 100 / https://www.ticketweb.co.uk ).
