Hilary 2024
The Programme for tonight's OUSinf concert can be seen here:
Saturday 10th February 2024, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Principal Guest Conductor, Natalia Luis-Bassa
Richard Strauss An Alpine Symphony
Gabriela Ortiz Kauyumari
Lili Boulanger D'Un Soir Triste
The centrepiece of our programme this term was Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony. This is a truly epic work with a strong narrative and great impact from the enlarged wind and brass sections. The piece tells the story of an eleven hour experience climbing an alpine mountain along with its beauty and trepidation, akin to an adventure that Strauss himself experienced as a boy. Strauss’ work is a real challenge for orchestras with OUO last tackling his work in 2018, also led by Natalia.
To complete our programme, we chose two pieces by women written about 100 years apart from each other. Lili Boulanger wrote D’Un Soir Triste in 1918, not long before her death at the age of just 24, still affected by the loss of her father, and as Paris was being bombarded by German artillery. It is a compellingly devastating piece which distinctly contrasts the hallucinogenic and spiritual journey of the Huichol people of Mexico depicted in Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari which completes our programme. Kauyumari was premiered by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic in 2021 to widespread critical acclaim. Whilst the subjects contained within this programme vary widely, they are joined by the vivid imagery they create.
OUSinf, Saturday 17th February 2024, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Kilian Meißner
Various La Guirlande de Campra
Francis Poulenc L'Histoire de Babar, Le Petit Elephant
Lili Boulanger Marche Gaie
Mélanie Bonis Suite en Forme de Valses
OUSinf performed an evening of French music for chamber orchestra at the Sheldonian Theatre. The concert featured some of France's best composers of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Mélanie Bonis, Lili Boulanger, and Francis Poulenc.
