City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra: Mahler Symphony no 5 in C minor
Partly because of my volunteer role as a Welcomer at Sheffield Cathedral, partly because I am a trustee of an organisation connected to CSYO, and partly because it’s not a work I would associate necessarily with the skills and experience of a youth orchestra, I wanted to hear this. I therefore arrived for my duty not really knowing what to expect. I met several people beforehand who told me how fine the orchestra’s performance had been last Saturday at the Stoller Hall in Manchester.
The orchestra was maybe 65 or so strong – less than the 100 there would be in a professional orchestra playing this work but still a very impressive number of talented young people. Though there were some tutors dotted around, and some college-level performers who were back in Sheffield for the summer holidays, at least 75%, I was told, of the performers were school-age students. There was a fair degree of diversity in the group too, in terms of heritage, and probably the orchestra has the same sort of profile as the organisation I am a trustee for, extending over many more Sheffield and South Yokshire postcodes than just those associated with the posher areas of West Sheffield
I thought the band gave a really very, very fine performance of Mahler 5. The acoustics of the cathedral – like most of its ilk – are very echoey, but perhaps luckily in my role as a volunteer event steward I was asked to be stationed to the side of the orchestra,, so in many ways had quite a clear sense of the orchestral sound. Thinking of previous experiences of school based orchestras I wondered how this band would cope – in terms of staying together, the actual execution of the notes, and the balance. Obviously from the side I couldn’t really tell what was happening with balance – there were for instance 6 horns (less than the usual professional orchestra 8/9) and at least 3, maybe 4, trumpets and trombones, capable of overpowering a relatively small string ensemble. But the execution of the notes was phenomenal….! The solo trumpet beginning of the work strikes fear, I’m told, in the hearts of all professional orchestral trumpet players – it’s solo, exposed, high notes and at the beginning of the work. I’ve heard it fluffed on a number of high profile occasions. The young woman playing it here did so fearlessly and totally accurately and powerfully. The Mahler is an extraordinarily densely scored work but everyone seemed absolutely on the ball, even in the inner parts, giving it their all. …..and they were doing so together! Not once did I hear any major mishaps with sections getting out of synch with one another. I was particularly impressed by the stylishness of the string playing and the general fearlessness of the brass!
This was both a heartening and also really enjoyable evening
John's musical journey 