RCO String Ensemble – Early Holiday Concert

RCO String Ensemble – Early Holiday Concert

4:30 pm on Sunday, November 21^st

Reid Memorial Church 1004 N. A St. – Richmond, Indiana

No Admission charge. We request that you wear a mask for the protection of the musicians and other audience attendees.

Music by Mozart, Holst, and John Rutter along with some festive holiday numbers to get you ready for the season.

Program:
Fantasia on Scarborough Fair
Arranged by Mark Barnard. 
This piece published in 2014 uses the English Folk song in an innovative way that highlights the strings.  The song is about the Scarborough Fair held in Yorkshire and details some impossible task that your loved one is required to do – make a shirt without any seems, wash your laundry in a dry well, farm the land between the surf and the shore.

Sonata Concertante 
Based on Mozart’s Sonata for piano four hands, arranged by Frederic Westcott.
The Sonata in B^b K. 358 originally for piano duet written in Salzburg about 1773 is here re-imagined for strings.  We are playing the 1^st and last movements with Jenny Williams playing the piano part much like a concerto.

The Holly and the Ivy
Arranged by Chip Davis. 
This Old English carol is in a setting by Chip Davis, of the Mannheim Steamroller fame, sounds much like a medieval song.  Davis was born and raised in Ohio and earned a music degree from the University of Michigan in both percussion and bassoon.

Dargason from the St. Paul Suite
By Gustav Holst. 
Again an English folk song is the basis for this piece which is combined with Greensleeves.  Holst wrote this for the St. Paul School for Girls string orchestra in 1913.

A Time for Christmas 
Arranged by David Bobrowitz. 
This piece published in 2017 uses 3 well-known carols:  Good King Wenceslas, The First Noel, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; in a medley that shows off many string techniques.

Silent Night
Arranged by Erik Morales. 
This famous Christmas carol was written in 1818 and was originally in 6/8 time at a faster tempo (more guitar-friendly).  First used in the US around 1859 when it was translated into English.  The middle section has a quicker more “waltz-like” quality.

Suite for Strings
By John Rutter. 
This piece was published in 1973 but written much earlier when Rutter was in his twenties and BEFORE he was known as a choral composer.  It has four movements all based on (you guessed it) English folk songs.  We will do #3, O Waly Waly, based on the Welsh tune “The Water is Wide” and #1, a rousing version of A-Roving.

The Sleigh
By Richard Kountz. 
First published in 1926 this ‘Russian’ sleigh song is a fast-moving fun piece.

RCO String Ensemble Members
Jay Conard – Conductor

Thank you to the Friends of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church for graciously hosting this event.
The RCO plans to return to full orchestra rehearsals/concerts after the first of the year. Rehearsals will be held in the Chapel room of Reid Memorial Church. Follow us on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rcoindiana or checkout our webpage at https://rcoindiana.org