In the cool of the Kingswood College Chapel it was warmth that the audience enjoyed last weekend when the NMMU Wind Symphony Orchestra moved in.
In the cool of the Kingswood College Chapel it was warmth that the audience enjoyed last weekend when the NMMU Wind Symphony Orchestra moved in.
The orchestra from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University's music department made itself at home there on Saturday afternoon – and thanks to the friendly and engaging manner of conductor Gareth Williams, so did a small but appreciative audience.
A well constructed contemporary, mostly classical programme featured two highlights – saxophonist Paul Richard in the Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Band by British composer Ronald Binge, and the finale of singer Miranda Ncwane leading Caiphus Semenya's Qonqoza and Vicky Sampson's African Dream.
After a slightly tentative opening with Franz Biebl's Ave Maria, Howard Hanson's Chorale and Alleluia gave the 42-member ensemble the opportunity to show off their rich, full sound. Most of this American composer's works were written, and first performed, in the first half of the 20th century and drew on his own Scandinavian roots.
He acknowledged his contemporary Sibelius as a major influence, who in turn took Tchaikovsky and then Wagner to heart, and Saturday's rendering of the Chorale and Alleluia carried the weight and intensity of that grand Romantic language.
It's an ensemble made for exactly that sound, and the wood-strutted arch of the chapel's performance area, often unkind to choral ensembles, served it well.
Another American composer, Norman Dello Joio (Scenes from the Louvre) followed by Hungarian György Ránki (The Magic Potion) picked up the pace in preparation for an ebullient finale that along with other South African favourites included Dorothy Masuku's Pata Pata, made famous by Miriam Makeba.
As Williams explained although the ensemble has been going for years, its personnel changes as students move through the University's music school.
And it would be very unusual for a teaching ensemble not to have the occasional intonation inaccuracy. There were a couple but they didn't detract from the whole.
It is a pity that the four schools specifically invited by the ensemble to attend for free didn't come along in their numbers.
Musicians and non-musicians alike would have learned a lot including, first, that professionalism is possible wherever and whoever you are, and no matter what size your audience.
And that if you want people's attention, you need to make them feel comfortable. Williams said last weekend's performance was something of a test run. Hopefully they'll be back.
* Additional source: www.allmusic.com
