Music for theatre

It’s time for another concert by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra: Music for Theatre will be staged in Paphos and Nicosia, three classical compositions led by Wolfgang Schroeder.

Contemporary British composer John Woolrich made a magnificent version of selected Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas, to open the programme. As the composer himself said: “These versions of three of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas (he wrote 555 in all) aren’t simply orchestrations, although Scarlatti’s notes are mostly left alone. Any liberties I have taken are there to underline the wit (and strangeness) of Scarlatti’s music.”

Felix Mendelssohn – one of the greatest child prodigies among composers – composed his Overture to the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1826, at the age of 17, initially for two pianos. Orchestrated shortly after, the overture encapsulates all the characters and events that take place in the drama and evokes the fairy world as no other music had done before. The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra will perform David Matthews’ arrangement of the overture for an ensemble of 11 players, premiered by the Nash Ensemble in March 2016.

Last on the programme, Aaron Copland’s Music for the Theatre incorporates the energetic rhythms and catchy melodies of jazz in the 1920s and was written with no specific play in mind. As Copland explained, “The music seemed to suggest a certain theatrical atmosphere, so after developing the idea into five short movements, I chose the title.”

 

Music for Theatre

Concert by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. October 8. Pallas Theatre, Nicosia. October 9. Markideio Theatre, Paphos.  8.30pm. Information: 22-463144, www.cyso.org.cy

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