Wednesday 27 January 2016

Pig Music for Wodehouse

Usually I listen to Radio 4 when I am in the horseless carriage. For some reason or perhaps for no reason I tuned into radio three at lunchtime yesterday. A composer by the name of Simon Willis was talking about a piece of music which he had composed for the 2013 opening night of Germany's NDR symphony orchestra. This orchestra grew out of an ad hoc orchestra established by the British forces in the years immediately following the Second World War.

After having toyed with and discarded the notion of a Dickensian inspired composition Willis determined upon a Pelham Grenville Wodehouse based overture. He describes Wodehouse's novels as, "comedies of errors set in a sunlit tranquil England of the 1920's .... a land populated by choleric dukes, terrifying aunts, baffled village policemen, rugby-playing clergymen and most important of all the archetypal English upperclass twit with his willingness to help, his sense of fair play, kindness and complete absence of intellectual ability or common sense."

The name given to Willis's, "Charleston for Orchestra," is as you will have guessed, "Empress of Blandings." Having listened to the composition I can report that it most definitely has porcine qualities. Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth would I think be happy with this homage to his aristocratic pig.

1 comment:

  1. What a good spot! I have shared this with my friends at the PG Wodehouse Society and I expect it will eventually be published in their journal, Wooster Sauce, giving you credit.

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