Save the date: November 29th 2025. Join Wymondham Symphony Orchestra at 7pm in Wymondham Abbey Church for their Autumn Concert: Celebrating Ravel!
The first concert of the first season with their new musical director. Japanese-British conductor, Theo Vinden, has enjoyed his first term working with the Wymondham Symphony Orchestra - and is very grateful for all of the music-making, laughter, and friendships formed so far! You can read about his work here.
The Concert will begin with a set of three dances, each with its own distinctive character. Dvo?ák’s ‘Slavonic Dance no. 3, opus 72’ was originally inspired by Czech folk songs and offers a bright and upbeat piece in F major to start the evening.
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the French composer Maurice Ravel, the next piece will be Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess). Originally commissioned as a whimsical salon piece for piano, it was so popular that Ravel orchestrated it a decade after it was originally written. Despite the name, this is not a funeral lament; it is meant to evoke the scene of a Spanish princess delighting in a stately dance.
The last dance before the interval will be Die Fledermaus Overture by Johann Strauss II. The opera incorporates waltzes, polkas, and other bright, bubbly melodies, and the overture gives a wonderful introduction to those themes.
The full mastery of Ravel’s orchestration skills will then be displayed in his version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Originally composed for piano by Mussorgsky, it was composed as musical depictions of 10 drawings by his good friend Victor Hartmann. Broken up by rich and triumphant Promenade movements, the piece features 10 musical ideas, each depicting specific paintings. Examples include: Gnomus, featuring twitchy fearful music depicting a sketch of a nutcracker in the form of a wizened gnome. Bydlo depicts a peasant driving an ox and cart, which the orchestration portrays with weighty/heavy melodies. Ending with the Great Gate of Kiev, the piece reaches a finale with chanting bells, sonorous brass, and a majestic procession.
Tickets are available online at https://www.trybooking.com/uk/eventlist/wso or at the Wymondham Abbey shop. There will also be some availability on the door, but we encourage you to purchase tickets in advance to beat the queues. Prices are £15, Friends of the WSO £13 and under 18s are free.
Volunteer Request!
We are seeking volunteers to help us on concert weekends with stage setup in the Abbey. In exchange for free concert tickets, we're looking for able-bodied volunteers to help us get the staging, chairs and percussion set-up on the morning before the concert. With 4 or 5 people, it would only be an hour or two on a Saturday morning to move the pieces into position, and at least 1 orchestra member would be present to assist. In exchange for their time we would provide volunteers with complementary tickets to the concert. Get in touch at wsoticket@gmail.com
Want to get involved?
We’re a friendly group playing fantastic symphony repertoire with regular rehearsals at Central Hall in the heart of Wymondham. If you’re interested in joining the orchestra, we’d love to hear from you. In particular, we’re on the lookout for viola (grade 7 or above), double bass, trombones, and percussion players. More details about the orchestra and how to join can be found here.
