Orchestra music suited to season

HENLEY Symphony Orchestra’s autumn concert, conducted by Alexander Walker with guest baritone Efim Zavalny, takes place at St Mary’s Church in Hart Street, Henley, tomorrow (Saturday) at 5pm.

Music pieces include Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, Mahler’s Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances.

Borodin’s Polovstian Dances is taken from his unfinished opera, Prince Igor, which was about the 10th century Viking ruler of Kiev. The Polovtsians were nomadic Turks who entertained the prince with a dance troupe of female slaves.

Mussorgsky wrote the music for his Songs and Dances of Death based on the poems of his cousin Kutuzov. There are four songs in each of which Death is a character interacting with a dying person as their ends play out. In the final piece, Death is a triumphant general at the end of a bloody battle.

Taken from a poem by Friedrich Rückert, Mahler’s Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, meaning “I’ve become lost to the world”, reflects on the cathartic healing powers of love and music.

Rachmaninov’s last ever composition was the Symphonic Dances and he gives a nod to many of his earlier works within the three movements of the orchestral suite.

Russian baritone Efim Zavalny and his wife and son relocated to London from St Petersburg at the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Music director Alexander Walker has described him as a “world-class singer”.

Tickets cost £22 reserved (central aisle), £20 unreserved (side central aisle), £18 unreserved (side aisles), £10 reserved/£8 unreserved students and under-16s.

For information, call 07726 459261, email boxoffice@ henleysymphony orchestra.co.uk or visit www.henleysymphony orchestra.co.uk