Mid Somerset Orchestra

Programme:
Mussorgsky: Night on a Bare Mountain
Dvo?ák: The Golden Spinning Wheel
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

As autumn days shorten, let the MSO entice you into a world of myths and legends! The concert opens with Rimsky-Korsakov’s version of Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain, describing a nocturnal Sabbath of the spirits of darkness until dispelled by the distant ringing of a village church bell.

Dvo?ák’s tone poem The Golden Spinning Wheel tells a complicated tale of heroine Dorni?ka who is murdered and dismembered by jealous family members in order to favour her step-sister in a royal marriage.

All turns out well, however, when a magician puts Dorni?ka back together again and brings her back to life, an (apparently vocal) golden spinning wheel informs the king that he has been tricked and the true lovers are finally united in a romantic forest.

Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade takes its inspiration from different stories from The Tales of the Arabian Nights, each heralded by a prelude telling of Queen Scheherazade cleverly averting execution by her husband, the mighty and misogynous Sultan Sharyar, by telling him 'cliff-hanger' tales!

Queen Scheherazade is represented by a demanding violin solo, which will be performed by MSO leader Hywel Jenkins.