A bit of reminiscing this week – the Glasgow schools’ summer music courses always happened during the first two full weeks in July immediately after the school holidays started. For seven years I was privileged to be a part of those courses – firstly as a student and then on the staff. So this week is going to be about those courses.
Today – the 13th – we go back to July 1972 which was my first year as horn tutor for the military band course. That course had its final concert (in Ardrossan) on the 12th – will come back to the military band later in the week – but on the 13th, instead of heading home, I was driven by the deputy head of the music department a short distance up the coast to Largs where the second orchestra had their course – and they were a horn player short of a section 😃 It was good to be reunited with the conductor – Trevor Harvey – and he was willing to risk me taking part after just attending about an hour or so rehearsal on the morning of the concert. 😲😂 (This was far from the last time that I found myself sight reading through at least part of a concert – not always successfully🤭)
I’ve mentioned this concert before (its the one where I spent the afternoon in a rowing boat in Largs Bay fishing) – and have already shared three of the five pieces in that programme – the Humperdinck “Dream Pantomime” from Hansel and Gretel; the North American Square Dance by Arthur Benjamin and the Franck Symphony. The programme opened with today’s choice – which nearly made it on to my Scottish week.
There was no debate about which recording to share – this one with Sir Alexander Gibson conducting the SNO was what made this overture much more well known – and it became even more “famous” when it was used as the theme tune to “Sutherland’s Law” on the TV. It is, arguably, the most well known piece of Scottish orchestral music.