Death and destruction in Exeter Cathedral

Carnage, blood and guts will visit Exeter Cathedral this July 21st in the shape of the Amadeus Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Chorus under the baton of Philip Mackenzie.

Of the four pieces to be performed, three of them end in bloodshed!  Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet famously ends with Romeo drinking poison in the mistaken belief that Juliet is dead, only for her to wake up, find him dead and take her own life with his dagger.

  Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel is based on the eponymous folk hero who mocks authority wherever he goes.  Sadly he taunts the church and is charged with blasphemy. 

His sentence is death by hanging and Strauss brilliantly depicts the scream of death on the D clarinet (a very shrill instrument), the swinging of the lifeless corpse on the rope and the death twitches (pizzicato strings). 

Finally, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, music taken from the film of the same name, tells of the Teutonic Knights attacking Novgorod and being defeated by Nevsky. 

After the Battle of the Ice a lone maiden wanders around the battlefield looking for her beloved and kissing the eyelids of the dead. 

It’s not all doom and gloom though!  Bruch’s wonderfully melodious Violin Concerto in G minor will lighten the mood somewhat.  Internationally famous violinist Michael Gurevich will play the solo violin part.

The Amadeus Orchestra was founded in Exeter in 1990 and held their first concert in St Sidwell’s Church, followed by another in the Plaza with Griff Rhys Jones narrating Peter and the Wolf.  The orchestra is now based mainly in London and performs all over the world but returns to Exeter every summer to play in the Cathedral.

Tickets are available from the Exeter Northcott Theatre.