Sussex Symphony Orchestra offer final concert in their 2024-25 season

Walton, Dvořák, Rachmaninov and Richard Strauss are on the programme as Sussex Symphony Orchestra offer the final concert in their 2024-25 season at All Saints, Hove on Saturday, May 17 at 19:30.

Tickets are available via www.sussexsymphony.org.

For Mia Clift, principal oboist, it's a chance once again to sit at the heart of her very happy extended family.

“The season has been amazing. The orchestra has about 80-odd players in it and I have been there coming up three and a half to four years now. The majority of the players have done music to a very high level and are maybe teachers or whatever, but there are others that have not studied music at all and just do it as a hobby. You've got all walks of life there but the thing is that we all work together to achieve a very high quality of music. You just can't really describe to someone who hasn't done it what it feels like to be sitting in the middle of an orchestra. It is so immersive. As an oboist I am sitting right in the middle of it all. You have got the wind section behind you and the strings in front of you, and you are in the middle of everything that's going on, with the man with his stick in front of you! We are all in it together. It's such a welcoming orchestra. It doesn't matter if you haven't studied music to a high level. If you're prepared to work and put in the hours then you really are accepted. It is a very happy orchestra. There is no stuck-up-ness at all.”

And the satisfaction is huge: “For each concert we have one rehearsal a week before. (Orchestra founder and conductor) Mark (Andrew James) likes to do a lot of music which is still in copyright, and the music hire costs are frightening so we tend to get the music only a week before the gig which means that things are very much at the last minute. You look at it and you think ‘I'm never going to play’ that but then you break it down. For me it can be tricky but then you get such a sense of satisfaction. You hear the recording and you look at the notes and you think ‘Oh goodness me!’ but then you do it. And the satisfaction is immense.”

As for this latest concert: “We begin with William Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue: A Musical Journey Through Heroism and Strife. Composed in 1942, William Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue captures the spirit of resilience and heroism that marked the World War II era. Originally written for the film The First of the Few, a biographical account of the life of R J Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire aircraft, this piece stands as a powerful tribute to the courageous pilots and the dramatic tales of aerial combat.

“We turn next to Rachmaninov’s 2nd piano concerto – A Journey from Despair to Triumph – performed by the wonderful Phillip Leslie. Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a monumental work that captures an extraordinary journey through despair and ultimate triumph. Completed in 1901, this concerto marks Rachmaninov's return to composition after a period of deep depression and self-doubt, making it a profoundly personal and dramatic tale.”

“Our second half starts with Antonin Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances: A Musical Journey Through Bohemian Landscapes and Folkloric Tales. Dvořák's Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 and Op. 72, are vibrant expressions of the Czech composer's deep-rooted affection for the folk music and dances of his homeland. Composed in two sets (1878 and 1886), these pieces embody a journey through the rich cultural landscapes of Bohemia, each dance telling its own vivid, dramatic tale.

“Our final piece for the concert is Richard Struass’ Don Juan – A Musical Journey of Passion and Recklessness. This tone poem, composed in 1888, vividly recounts the dramatic tale of the legendary lover and libertine. Based on the play Don Juans Ende by Nikolaus Lenau, Strauss’s work captures the essence of the character’s passionate and impetuous nature, taking the listener on an exhilarating musical journey.”