Season Launch - 21 September 2025 | Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra

Sunday 21 September 2025 - Programme Notes

Peter Warlock - Capriol Suite

Peter Warlock (1894-1930) lived a relatively short, unconventional life. Born to wealthy parents Arnold and Bessie Heseltine in The Savoy Hotel, London, Peter gave himself the pseudonym Warlock for his published compositions, and kept Heseltine for his work as a music critic. He received early piano lessons and was a precocious academic. However, aged 14 he struggled with the restricted, formal life at Eton college. Upon hearing the music of Frederick Delius at a live concert, young Warlock declared “I cannot adequately express in words the intense pleasure it was for me to hear such perfect performances of such perfect music”. Warlock became friends with the older Delius, who offered advice on becoming and sustaining a career as a composer. For his gratitude, Warlock continued to champion Delius’ music throughout his life.

Written in 1926 just 4 years before the composer’s death, the Capriol Suite is one of Warlock’s most popular works. Originally conceived for piano duet, Warlock soon scored it for string and then full orchestras. The suite is based on tunes from a manual of Renaissance dances, although musicological analysis has suggested that much of the suite’s melodic and harmonic ideas are original to Warlock.

Basse-Danse - a lively dance for older folk, in which the feet mainly slide along the floor. Although written in D minor, there is an energetic fizz from the bright tempo, lightness of touch in scoring, and spiky characterisation from the strings. Accents sometimes placed on the 2nd beat of the bar play with our sense of rhythm and keep our interest.
Repeated heavy down bows give a bolder nuance, but these give way towards the end and, aided by a cheeky final viola note, the dance finishes in the sounds of D major. This harmonic surprise is known as a Tierce de Picardie and was developed and extensively used in the Renaissance period. It continued its popularity into the Baroque era, giving an uplifting finish to otherwise sombre minor key choices.
Pavane - a slow, stately dance in duple time. Providing the perfect companion to the opening, the second dance is serene and lyrical. Violas set the all-important pulse with a rhythmic crotchet-quaver-quaver ostinato (repeated notes and/or rhythm). This drum imitation is relentless until just 4 bars from the end; Warlock skillfully weaving it between parts throughout. Above this the 1st violin melody floats ethereally.
Tordion - has a similar mood to the opening, with a strong pulse and Con moto (with motion) instruction. Set in G melodic minor (with occasional melodic and cadence dips into major tonality), the central section changes texture with tutti pizzicato (all players pluck their strings), and challenges the listener with a pppp (pianissississimo) dynamic. Tordion finishes with quiet simplicity.
Bransles - (pronounced “Brawl”) - a fast country dance, continuously building in speed and excitement. The Presto (very fast) tempo immediately sets the mood, highlighted by staccato (short) string notes. Warlock deploys various textures and ideas here, with legato (smooth) lines introduced in a second contrasting section, rhythmic independence threaded into each passing part and pizzicato moments seamlessly interjecting between bowed passages. Without skipping a beat we also rotate from G minor to G major, only to repeat the tonality switch as the music reaches its frenzied conclusion.
Pieds-en-l’air - literally translated as “feet in the air” - the aim is for the feet to move so gently they appear to glide across the room without touching the floor! This penultimate dance establishes an immediate sense of calm with an elegant 1st violin melody, supported a 10th below by the deep, rich violas. Creating the sense of an English pastoral, the tune repeats, but the harmony unexpectedly shifts, with Warlock giving exquisite moments in shafts of sunlight to all sections. The tranquil aura seems to extend even beyond the last note.
Mattachins - an exhilarating sword dance completes this magical suite, opening with soli cellos playing repeated 5ths. Their ostinato is a faster version of the viola’s earlier Pavane, allowing the other string sections to keep similar rhythmic choreography whilst the melody dances above. In the second section Warlock really lets his creative juices flow, with chromatic harmony and triplet rhythms introduced for the first time, alongside a ping-pong passing of high to low pitches between violins and cellos/basses. The clashing swords are conjured here, and this characterful set of dances reaches its rousing conclusion.

Nareece Forrest

George Butterworth - the Banks of Green Willow

George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885 – 1916) was born in London but grew up in York. His mother was a singer and taught him music from an early age. He earned a scholarship to Eton and went on to Trinity College, Oxford where he concentrated on music, making friends with Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult.

As a composer, Butterworth is known for his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from A Shropshire Lad. He only composed three short orchestral pieces, Two English Idylls and The Banks of Green Willow, the latter being the most played. All three are based on folk melodies that Butterworth heard in Sussex in 1907, one of which, Green Bushes, was a popular tune and also inspired Vaughan Williams and Percy Grainger.

The premiere of this piece was given in 1914 by a small group of players from the Halle and Liverpool Orchestras in West Kirkby on the Wirral, conducted by Adrian Boult (his first engagement with a professional orchestra). It was played in London shortly after and was the last time Butterworth listened to his own music.

A folk tune starts the piece, played on clarinet and strings, setting a pastoral scene. After it is repeated, Butterworth introduces an original, more animated theme on horns and the music then builds to an intense climax before relaxing as the Green Bushes tune is gently heard on the oboe. After a repetition of this tune on flute, the piece ends gently with the first theme heard on solo violin, horn and oboe.

George Butterworth had a short but distinguished career in the army during the Great War, having been awarded the Military Cross before being killed in the Battle of the Somme - undoubtedly a life tragically ended before true potential was reached.

Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961) - Piccolo Concerto Op. 50

It is a great honour for me on this occasion to have been asked to write the programme note for this piece. Flo Eaglestone's proud grandparents, Barry and Jenny, are very good friends of mine. I have met Flo, and I have seen a video of her aged only 13, playing this challenging concerto, composed in 1996, with its virtuoso solo piccolo part. The last time this orchestra was similarly honoured was nearly 30 years ago, when we accompanied Julian Bliss, then just 10 years old, in the presence of the composer, as soloist in Malcolm Arnold's Clarinet Concerto.

Lowell Liebermann, an American composer, was only 16 when he first came to prominence, playing his own Piano Sonata, Op. 1, in the Carnegie Hall in New York . He is currently known as a composer, pianist and conductor.

Much of Liebermann's music is traditional in character, but some is "polytonal", meaning that it is played in more than one key at the same time.

Liebermann's Piccolo Concerto, which we are playing this afternoon, was given its first performance by the star flautist of his day, James Galway. At the time, Galway's popular reputation as a virtuoso flautist was somewhat similar, in the present day, to Nigel Kennedy's reputation as a violinist.

The concerto consists of three movements:

1. Andante comodo and Allegro: cheerful in character.

2. Adagio: lyrical and introspective.

3. Presto: "raucous and humorous".

Look out for several delightful musical quotations. We have spotted Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, Mozart's Symphony No. 40, and Sousa's Star-Spangled Banner. There may be others!

We hope you enjoy our very special performance today.

Peter Crawshaw

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No 5 in C minor

What can be said about this monumental symphony that hasn’t already? If you’re new to hearing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67, then you’re in an enviable position; free to create your own thoughts on the music which so many people have taken to their hearts since it was first performed in Vienna, on 22nd December 1808.

This seminal work has proved that, in the right hands, an opening consisting of just four notes can yield an entire symphony and provoke countless conversations about fate. It has inspired many other composers to explore their own musical voices, and cemented Beethoven as a true genius of his craft.

Allegro con brio (lively, with spirit) The famous opening is full of intent, set in stormy C minor. First violins extend the theme, as cellos and woodwinds layer their replies. The four notes are woven between all the orchestral voices throughout the movement - cleverly shifting in pitch and dynamics, but always maintaining the di-di-di-dum rhythm. Towards the end, a sudden two bar Adagio (slow) interruption by a lone oboe gives a fleeting moment of serenity against the surrounding musical storm, but destiny is kismet. The movement finishes with the full orchestral forces unified in the stranglehold of fate.
Andante con moto (walking pace, with motion) Cellos and violas breathe fresh air into proceedings with a gentle, dotted melody in A𝄬 major, warmly supported by plucked basses. Gradually the other players enter, with woodwinds smoothly finishing the cadences. Moving on, Beethoven plays with rhythm - removing the dotted notes to even out the theme and sharing triplet accompaniment around the orchestra. The dynamics used create huge contrasts, with the fortissimo (very loud) cadences being immediately replaced by hushed quiet, only to build the drama back up with a collection of strident chords which bring the movement to a strong close.
Scherzo Allegro Living up to its lively, playful instruction cellos and basses begin, whispering a smooth arpeggiated idea in C minor, with woodwinds echoing their reply. Blazing horns hold everyone’s attention before the rest of the orchestra join in. It has been suggested that the 4-note horn motif here shares its origins with the opening to this symphony, thereby fate once again knocks on the door. The rhythmical similarity certainly lends more than a passing nod, but what do you think?
With a sudden switch to C major, cellos spring forth with a thundering fugue, passing it to violas and bassoons, before violins complete the fugal picture accompanied by woodwinds. Earlier horns are supplanted by a delicate clarinet and softly plucked strings, and the tender flute enhances the gentle mood. Gradually the motif is quietly developed by the orchestral forces, and as a distant timpani chimes repeated C’s we are led into perhaps the greatest transition between the 3rd and 4th movements of a symphony ever to have been written.
Allegro This lively finale bursts with energy, demanding our attention and taking us on a magical musical journey. Emerging from an almighty crescendo, the first theme rises victoriously in C major; the orchestral forces gloriously amplified by rhythmical unity and the addition of piccolo, contrabassoon and 3 trombones, all for the first time! Powerful woodwinds and horns shine, offering a triumphant, sustained chorale against repeated chords in the upper strings and undulating quaver arpeggios for bassoon, cellos and basses. The music develops and builds, each part weaving together until the whole orchestra comes to a sudden stop, leaving just the 1st violins with seven lonely bars of repeated G’s in a new time signature of 3/4. This sudden change of mood is a welcome oasis of calm, allowing a gentle reprise of the horn’s theme from the 3rd movement on clarinets and violins, before passing it to a plaintive oboe. As the music extends, listen for a sequence of six triumphant cadencing chords - they create a very plausible ending to this magnificent work. Don’t be caught out though! Beethoven has more tricks up his compositional sleeve. Although the great Johannes Brahms had not yet been born at the time of the composition of Beethoven’s 5th, the bassoon enters with a very Brahms-like motif, which is immediately repeated on 1st horn, then gently amended and taken up by flute, clarinet, then piccolo. Strings take their turn with the Brahmsian idea, after which a piccolo trills happily, before Beethoven pits the strings against the brass and winds as one section tries to catch the other. To complicate matters further the tempo increases to Presto (fast), and is conducted as ‘one in a bar’! After even more orchestral fireworks we truly reach the end - punctuated by a mere 27 bars of brilliant C major chords ringing out across the orchestra - long after the last note has sounded.

Nareece Forrest