Royal Northern Sinfonia: Summer Music

The incredible players of the North East’s professional orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, return to The Witham for another afternoon of beautiful classical music that’ll leave you feeling refreshed and ready for summer.

Samuel Barber’s Summer Music for Wind Quintet was crowd-funded long before the internet came along, paid for by the members of Detroit’s Chamber Music Society in 1953. It’s a wind player’s dream, weaving each instrument’s individual colours and sounds together in a lush, slightly wistful soundscape.

The string section take the lead for the rest of the afternoon, with three contrasting pieces by three very different composers. Antonin Dvořák is best known for his ‘New World Symphony’ and this String Sextet has all of our favourite elements of that – jaunty folk rhythms, lyrical melodies, rich resonating chords – in miniature size.

Punctum by Caroline Shaw is a dramatic modern piece that’ll have you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next.

An elegant quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an extra viola in the line-up for a warmer, deeper sound, rounds off the programme.

Samuel Barber Summer Music for Wind Quintet (12’) 
Antonin Dvořák String Sextet (35’) 

Interval

Caroline Shaw Punctum (10’)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quintet No. 5 in D major (30’) 

Running time: 2 hours including interval