(Section C)
Led by LAURANCE TURNER
Conducted by JULIAN CLIFFORD
EDA KERSEY (violin) Lully (1639-1687) was a poor Italian youth who was taken to France when quite young. He began his working life as a kitchen scullion, and was lucky enough to gain the favour of the young King, Louis XIV , who made him leader of his band. Being as clever a courtier as he became a composer, he found out that the French liked ballets and graceful operas, and pleased them by writing plenty of these, himself acting and dancing in some of them. This evening we are to hear four pieces arranged by the conductor, Felix Mottl , from various sets of ballet music written by Lully.
The Serenade in D, Op. 11, one of the two Brahms wrote early in his career, is the first of his published works for full orchestra. It is in the traditional form used by Mozart and his contemporaries, and contains the two delicate and exquisite minuets that so often appear as separate items in concert programmes.