Listening to the London Symphony Orchestra

On Wednesday evening some pupils from our school orchestra had the wonderful opportunity to go and hear the London Symphony Orchestra play at the Barbican.

The LSO do a series of concerts, the ‘Half Six Fix’, which are aimed at introducing pieces of classical music to younger audiences. At Wednesday’s concert, before the piece was performed, the story behind Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ was explained by the conductor with sections of the music demonstrated by different parts of the orchestra.

Listening to the symphony with an understanding of the narrative behind the music was an amazing experience for our pupils: the music moved from the light waltz of the ball scene, to the tragedy of the scaffold and the dancing ghouls and skeletons of the last movement.

When asked what they thought of the music the pupils first words were “Dramatic!’ and “Emotional!” Everyone had a favourite part of the symphony, but the thunder of the timpanis and the onset of the full brass section in the 4th and 5th movements were definitely amongst the most popular!

A huge thank you to Miss Reid, who leads our school orchestra, for organising such a special visit.