OUO embraces Alternative Canon

We were extremely proud of many of our players who, last term, participated in the Alternative Canon Project concert in Christ Church Cathedral, conducted by OUO horn player Alice Knight. The concert was organised as the premiere of Ethel Smyth's cantata The Song of Love, written in 1888. It was left unpublished for over 130 years before Oxford student Angie Wyatt spent her vacations in the British Library publishing the sheet music. The concert was a great success and the musicians also produced a recording of the work which you can watch here:

Ethel Smyth - The Song of Love World Premier - YouTube

And you can read Christopher Churcher's review for OPUS here:

Ethel Smyth 'The Song of Love' Review (oums.co.uk)

The desire to promote compositions from outside of the western canon is extremely popular and growing among our musicians as we seek to explore a range of musical repertoire and produce exciting and entertaining performances. Therefore, OUO has decided to make a commitment alongside OUMS and the Alternative Canon Project to programme excellent and underappreciated musical works in our programmes, with the aim to average at least one 'alternative' piece in each of our concerts. This won't stop us from tacking the challenging and traditional symphonies for which we are known, but expand our possibilities to include pieces which will thrill and surprise both our musicians and audiences.