Review: Ilkley Chamber Orchestra, All Saints Parish Church, Ilkley

There is so much more to the music of Gustav Holst, ninety years after his death, than The Planets.

Last Sunday’s concert given by Ilkley Chamber Orchestra, leader Sally Robinson, conductor John Anderson, in the candlelit All Saints Church, opened with Holst’s St Paul’s Suite for strings. The piece was written for the students at St Paul’s High School, Hammersmith, where Holst served as music master from 1905 until his death in 1934.

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G major followed. This is composed for three each of violins, violas and cellos with basso continuo. John Anderson and his orchestra imparted considerable rhythmic vitality with most of the players standing in the traditional chamber music style.

The Concertino for clarinet and strings by Gordon Jacobs (1895-1984) is based on selected sonatas of Tartini. Jacobs had a peculiar gift of making the themes of others his own. He evokes a beguiling Mozartian elegance beautifully phrased on this occasion by solo clarinet Colin Blamey and the orchestra.

Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Stings can often sound too ripely Romantic, depending of course on personal taste. Played on this occasion in the stone walled resonance of All Saints, this well known work acquired under John Anderson’s direction a surprising sense of drama combined with astringency of tone. The famous Waltz was played with a delightful lilt.

John appealed to his appreciative audience to support live music and to spread the word. The arts, he said, are under siege as never before. Music in schools is under threat and orchestras such as Leeds based Northern Ballet’s have been downsized due to Arts Council and local authority funding cuts.