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Tonbridge Philharmonic Society's orchestral concert at St Stephen's Church was an interesting and well-balanced programme: the first half incorporating three atmospheric works, with the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor after the interval. In Nielsen's Helios Overture the journey of the sun from its rising over the Aegean Sea to its sinking behind the lofty mountains was captured evocatively....

The Easter offering from the Tonbridge Philharmonic Society was a delightful programme of English music with carefully chosen pieces to complement each other and give the forces of choir, orchestra and soloists plenty to enjoy.  The occasion was marred only by the untimely death in November 2012 of Sir Philip Ledger, who was to have conducted his cantata, “The Risen Christ”, at this performance....

The sizeable audience at Tonbridge Philharmonic Society's Orchestral Concert at St Stephen's Church was treated to a well-balanced programme of late-nineteenth century works.   Guest-conducted by Michael Hitchcock, the Overture to Weber's Der Freischütz gave the evening a dramatic start, with the suitably menacing opening reflecting the setting of a deep dark forest.  The work is a masterpiece...

Introducing the Tonbridge Philharmonic Society's November concert in Tonbridge School Chapel on Saturday, conductor Robin Morrish drew the attention of the audience to the texts of the works we would hear. Remembrance and the contemplation of our mortality, both from a religious and a human point of view, would reflect the mood of the music in Bruckner's motet Christus Factus Est, Strauss's Four...

The audience at the concert given by the Tonbridge Philharmonic at Tonbridge School Chapel on a rather chilly summer evening last Saturday were treated to some real summer warmth as well as continuing Diamond Jubilee celebrations with the music of Parry, Stanford, Sullivan and Lambert. At the beginning of the evening conductor Robin Morrish invited the audience to join with choir, orchestra and...

The Mass in B Minor is the only full mass, which Bach wrote and it was also his last major composition. It was pulled together from movements written earlier in his life to which he added newly composed sections. There is speculation that Bach wrote this full mass, not for liturgical use, but as a statement of Christian beliefs for all people and for all time. Musically, it represents the...

The orchestra of Tonbridge Philharmonic Society set itself a huge challenge with the programme for its February concert at St Stephen's Church. Guest conducted by Michael Hitchcock, three works of varying length and difficulty were the goals challenged and bravely met. It was good to see resident conductor Robin Morrish playing in the viola section and his wife Penny leading the orchestra with...

Tonbridge Philharmonic Society's programme of music by English composers was excellently chosen, Vaughan Williams' overture The Wasps and the Five Mystical Songs providing a sparkling aperitif followed by some moments of calm reflection before we were launched into the barbaric ferocity of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, or 'Belli's Binge' as the composer called it! The Philharmonic orchestra was...

Three joyful settings of liturgical texts made up the programme for Tonbridge Philharmonic Society's final concert of the 2010-2011 Season. Tonbridge School Chapel was the perfect setting and acoustic for these vibrant works. Opening with Vivaldi's Gloria, the chorus and orchestra gave a confident and buoyant account of the work, written while he was teaching at the girls' orphanage in Venice....

When an orchestra includes in its programme two such well known works as Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony and Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto it has clearly set itself a real challenge. Both works are so familiar to the concert going public that the audience will always have a clear preconception of what to expect. The cello concerto, in particular, has a special place in our national heart with the...