150th Anniversary Heritage Concert
“You could just sit back and enjoy music-making of the highest calibre. A real joy.”
A 150th Anniversary Heritage Concert, given by Todmorden Orchestra, took place at Todmorden Town Hall on Saturday 22 March, 2025 to a capacity audience.
The 60+ piece orchestra presented a repertoire spanning German Romanticism and British Imperialism, with a welcome touch of English Lyricism. There was also a remarkable commission to mark this historic occasion.
William Walton’s Coronation March (1937 : George VI – father of the late Queen Elizabeth II) and Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March, No.4 (1907) opened and closed the concert respectively. Both pieces displayed rhythmic precision and created a soundworld of a long-gone British Empire. The cor anglais playing in the Walton was a welcome sonorous surprise.
Brahms’ Violin Concerto (1878) was a perfect choice for the traditional first-half positioning of a concerto. How wonderful that local lad, Martyn Jackson – former soloist with the Orchestra and now turned professional – was available to play for us. He is, of course, a virtuoso, nurtured by the local music services in his youth (he’s still young!). Sadly, Calderdale Music Services can no longer run a Calderdale Youth Orchestra (where Martyn was a member). This needs sorting asap!
There is sweetness and Sturm and Drang in the Concerto, brought to life by Martyn’s exquisite, muscular playing. The piece is so symphonic, with equal contributions from the orchestra. The by-play between soloist and ensemble was sensitive and seemingly effortless. You could just sit back and enjoy music-making of the highest calibre. A real joy.
How to top a memorable first half? Bravely, the Orchestra performed the late Ernest Tomlinson’s Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne (1976). Ernest was a Lancashire-based composer, conductor and choirmaster – the doyen of English Light Music (the Light Music Society is well worth joining). His music is quintessentially British, clever but difficut to play well. The Fantasia was no problem for the players – all 100+ tunes (so I’m told) interweaved with the ground bass tune ingeniously. It was a huge success.
George Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow (1913) gave us a tranquil lull, as if one was rambling along a Hampshire chalk stream. It was certainly far away from the fast-flowing becks and ‘waters’ of our region. It’s a firm broadcast favourite, and miraculously springs eternal.
The commissioned piece by Tim Benjamin (The Dividing Line) uncaptured elements of our region : rain (lots of it), the often mispronounced town’s name, the slightly uneasy geographical teetering on the Lancs/Yorks border, and the occasional dramatic incident. I wasn’t sure if the spectacular jump-out-of-your-seat monumental crash was perhaps an earthquake or something equally dramatic (flooding perhaps). There was a fine, accessible legato tune (reminiscent of brass bands) to complete this shortish, imaginative piece. I do hope the orchestra perform it again as part of its repertoire.
The conductor, Nicholas Concannon-Hodges kept the huge forces (Leader, Jonathan Whitehead) under benign control for a programme that will leave a vivid memory of some great compositions and committed musicianship that brings enormous credit to Todmorden.