‘COMMEMORATION and Hope’ was the title of the Westmorland Orchestra's latest concert, writes Clive Walkley.

Commemoration came in the form of performances of music by composers who served in the First World War: hope was reflected in Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony with its expression of joy in the natural world - the personal experience of the composer as he found solace in nature. This was an imaginative piece of programme planning which worked well, although unfortunately not attracting the large audience the orchestra hoped for and deserved.

The concert began with George Butterworth’s lovely rhapsody, A Shropshire Lad. The performance got off to rather uncertain start but recovered to reveal the beauty of Butterworth’s evocative description of the English countryside.

Breaking away from the usual pattern of an instrumental soloist joining the orchestra for a concerto, the committee had taken the brave decision to invite a vocalist, baritone Christopher Faulkner, to perform Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel. Christopher has a fine baritone voice, even throughout his range, and gave a good account of the nine settings of texts by RL Stevenson. There were times when he was overwhelmed by the orchestra, but given Vaughan Williams' thick scoring, this was perhaps inevitable (the songs are normally heard with piano accompaniment). It would have been helpful to have had the texts of the songs in the programme.

Next came a little-known piece by EJ Moeran, Whythorne’s Shadow, based on a song by the Elizabethan composer Thomas Whythorne. Moeran was injured in 1917 and wrote the piece many years later in between two world wars. This charming serenade was well played by the orchestra.

Closing the first half of the programme, and in complete contrast to what had gone before, we heard Arthur Benjamin’s famous Jamaican Rumba. The rhythmic momentum was maintained splendidly by pianist Alex Phillips-Yates, aided by the percussion section.

The second half of the programme was given over entirely to a performance of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Conductor Richard Howarth kept tight control of the string section who carry much of the thematic material in the first movement. In the second movement the principal woodwind players distinguished themselves in the bird calls which Beethoven wrote into the score. The thunderstorm which arrives halfway was particularly impressive and in the final movement, ‘Shepherds’ Hymn of Thanksgiving after the Storm’, the woodwind section again made a significant contribution.

Again, it was heart-warming to see and hear the dedication of the players who make up the Westmorland. The orchestra plays an important role in the world of music in South Lakeland.