Music

On Sunday, 8 April in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is delighted to present an afternoon concert for all the family featuring great music associated with Great Britain. HK Phil’s Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long, the orchestra and violinist Ning Feng will introduce music from British composers Alun Hoddinott, Edward Elgar and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as British-themed music from non-British composers including Percy Grainger and Max Bruch.

Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott, Badger in the Bag
Alun Hoddinott was one of Wales’s most important composers. Badger in the Bag is a short orchestral piece which depicts a story from the ancient book of Welsh legends, the Mabinogion. It is a work that is both playful and sinister, and reflects Hoddinott’s fascination with orchestral colour.

English composer Edward Elgar, Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1
The title comes from Shakespeare’s Othello, and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches are among Elgar’s best-known works. The march no. 1 was composed in 1901 and the premiere was a tremendous success. Elgar later used it in his Coronation Ode where he added the words “Land of Hope and Glory”.

Scottish resident composer Peter Maxwell Davies, An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
English-born composer Peter Maxwell Davies was Master of the Queen’s Music from 2004 to 2014 and was knighted in 1987. A long-term resident of the Orkney Islands off the Scottish coast, he composed An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise in 1984 as a musical portrayal of an actual wedding he attended on Hoy in Orkney.

Australian-born composer Percy Grainger, Irish Tune from County Derry
Percy Grainger was based in London between 1901 and 1914, and developed an interest in recording folk songs of the British Isles. One of the songs he found while visiting Northern Ireland was the famous Irish Tune from County Derry, which later became a hit song to the words “Danny Boy”.

German composer Max Bruch, Scottish Fantasy (3rd and 4th movements only)
Max Bruch is known today primarily for two works for violin and orchestra – his famous Violin Concerto and the Scottish Fantasy. Bruch found the tunes on which the Scottish Fantasy is based in a famous collection of traditional Scottish folk melodies arranged by the poet Robert Burns.

Gramophone magazine wrote of Ning Feng’s performance of Scottish Fantasy: “He’s in his element with the virtuoso high jinks of the Scherzo and finale, tossed off without turning a hair.” In this programme, our audience will hear this renowned violinist performing the 3rd and 4th movements of this popular work.