Our Society
Reviews
Review: Orchestral Concert 18th February – Holst The Planets
I am never disappointed by the superb output of Tonbridge Philharmonic Society and last Saturday’s concert was no exception. We were taken on a musical journey beginning on the wild tempestuous coast of Cornwall, to the country idyll of Norfolk, the bustling court of Elizabethan England, to the serene beauty of Bonnie Scotland, the crowded streets of London and finally up, up into very space...
Review: Verdi Requiem
The very well-produced programme for the Tonbridge Philharmonic Society’s performance of the Verdi Requiem on Saturday 19th November 2022 in Tonbridge School Chapel contained some interesting memories from Joanna Mace on the last 75 years of the Society. Although now in its 77th season, this concert was intended to be a 75th anniversary celebration, postponed for obvious reasons. This...
Review: Summer Concert – a programme of American Classics
You cannot say that Tonbridge Philharmonic Society’s programming is anything other than challenging! Last nights offerings were no exception. An interesting, if a little unexpected, evening was another triumph for this wonderful musical society. The final concert of the season began with aplomb with a lesser known, yet charmingly lighthearted Overture from Primrose by Ira and George Gershwin....
REVIEW: Orchestral Concert – Nielsen, Rota and Sibelius
21 May 2022 Nielsen, Rota and Sibelius Tonbridge Philharmonic Orchestra St Peter & St Paul Church, Tonbridge Review by Sara Kemsley My opportunities to review a concert by the always-impressive Tonbridge Philharmonic Society seem mostly to have coincided with the opening season of a new conductor. There have been a few in recent years through circumstance not carelessness on the part of...
Verdi Requiem Workshop hosted by TPS and the Royal Philharmonic Society
Tonbridge Philharmonic Society and the Royal Philharmonic Society hosted a very enjoyable Verdi Requiem Workshop on Saturday 14 May. Verdi’s Requiem is probably the most frequently performed major choral work composed since the compilation of Mozart’s Requiem, and has been described...
REVIEW: Duruflé Requiem and Serenade to Music
Review 1 It was a welcome return for the combined forces of the Tonbridge Philharmonic choir and orchestra after a two and a half year absence, in a challenging programme of choral music both a cappella and with orchestral accompaniment. The European flavour to the concert was set from the opening motet Abendlied by Rheinberger which was performed with a warm firm sound by the choir, with lots...
REVIEW: Tailleferre/ Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suite No.2/ Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2
For the first concert of their 2022 season, the Tonbridge Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Naomi Butcher focused on Russian Romantics, with red-blooded works from Prokofiev and Rachmaninov drawing a capacity audience to the Chapel of St Augustine. They began with a rarity, the Ouverture of 1931 from Germaine Tailleferre, the only female member of the celebrated group of French composers...
REVIEW: VIVALDI GLORIA/MENDELSSOHN SCOTTISH
What a joyful and happy reunion took place in the School Chapel on Saturday night! Performers, choir and orchestra, and audience alike joined in the spirit of the Psalmist and composer, Hubert Parry: we were united in the gladness of entering the House of the Lord to celebrate together after many months of isolating lockdown. To crown the glory of the event, we welcomed the arrival of our...
Review: Pictures At An Exhibition – Mussorgsky / Ravel and Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony
An excellent choice of programme ensured a full house at Tonbridge Parish Church on Saturday. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is a musical description of ten watercolours and architectural drawings, that were included in a Retrospective of the works of Mussorgsky’s late friend Viktor Hartmann in St Petersburg in 1874. Originally composed for solo piano, the suite was orchestrated after...
Dvorak Stabat Mater
Of the repertoire of works for chorus and orchestra from the nineteenth century, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater must be one of the more rarely heard; yet it is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Part of the reason may be the strange incongruity between the somewhat austere 13th century text and its expression through full-blooded Romanticism. The poem (attributed to a Franciscan friar) is one of is one of...