Chamber Orchestra
Felix Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture (‘Fingal’s Cave’)
Cecilia McDowall Rain, Steam and Speed
Maurice Ravel Pavane for a Dead Princess

Symphony Orchestra
Aldemaro Romero Fuga Con Pajarillo
Modest Mussorgsky (arr. Ravel) Pictures at an Exhibition

Cecilia McDowall’s Rain, Steam and Speed is based on Joseph M.W. Turner’s painting of a steam train and McDowall’s composition initially aims to convey a feel of wide, pastoral spaces before the incessant rhythmic motif representing the train enters from the horizon. The DUPO chamber orchestra also perform one of Felix Mendelssohn’s best known pieces, his Hebrides Oveture, depicting a visit Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa and Maurice Ravel’s Pavane – a picture of a historical dance.

The symphony orchestra play Pictures at an Exhibition, originally composed for piano by Mussorgsky and transformed for full symphony orchestra by Ravel. The piece is a stroll through an art gallery displaying paintings by the architect and painter Viktor Hartmann. The Promenade theme that opens the work links the paintings, ending with the magnificent finale ‘The Great Gate at Kiev’.

Running time: approx. 2 hours (including interval)

Tickets £16 (£10 concession) from Gala Theatre