Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra - Autumn concert

Reading’s Aldworth Philharmonic will return to the Great Hall on the University of Reading’s London Road Campus for a concert of music by French composers on Saturday 19 October 2024.

The concert opens in energetic fashion with the Hungarian March from Berlioz’s ‘The Damnation of Faust’, before the audience is treated to an orchestral seascape in Debussy’s 'La Mer'. These three famous musical sketches are a real tour de force for orchestra, creating wonderful sound combinations and colours to portray the vastness of the ocean: ‘From morning to noon on the sea’, the skittish ‘Play of the Waves’, and the threatening stormy chaos in ‘Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea’.

Cesar Franck’s Symphony in D minor completes the programme and it, too, is not short on romantic drama in its outer movements, complemented by a languid second movement with its beautiful cor anglais solo. ‘I know I'm biased being a cor anglais player myself, but it obviously makes the nicest sound in the orchestra,’ said APO Music Director, Andrew Taylor. ‘The melody in the second movement suits the instrument’s character so well.’

Tickets are £15 for 18+, £10 for under 18s. Members of APO’s free fan club for 5-15 year olds, APO Young, get a special price of just £7. All can be purchased from the APO website via the link above.

Furthermore, APO’s famous ‘Concert Virgin’ scheme offers free tickets, no questions asked, to anyone who’s never heard a live orchestra perform. These can also be reserved from the APO website.

About Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra

APO is an orchestra based in Reading. It seeks to improve access to classical music through presenting accessible concerts and engaging in innovative educational initiatives, as well as providing local musicians with a chance to play orchestral music to a high standard without having to commit to weekly rehearsals.