(Section B)
Leader, Paul Beard Conducted by Clarence Raybould
Bantock's comedy overture. 'The Pierrot of the Minute ', was inspired by a dramatic fantasy by Ernest Dowson. Pierrot, obeying a mysterious message, falls asleep in the park at the Petite Trianon. A Moon Maiden, from the Temple of Love, bends down and kisses him and Pierrot awakes to throw himself at her feet in rapt devotion, though she warns him that her kisses are fatal. The reckless Pierrot demands perfect bliss, though at the cost of life, and together they laugh and jest until daybreak summons the Moon Maiden back to her own realm.
Pierrot falls asleep again, awakening to realise that his dream was but the illusion of a minute.
Vaughan Williams's London' Symphony is actually a musical impression of London just before the war began, but it is equally descriptive of the great city as it is today. The first movement is thought to be descriptive of morning in the city ; the Westminster chimes are heard. The slow second movement is based largely on the plaintive melody which introduces it.
The third movement is called a Scherzo, but that is by no means its feeling ; ' Nocturne ' is a better title, for it is an impression of London by night, and even though the tempo is brisk, the music strikes a note of sadness and mystery. The fourth movement is full of bustling energy with a preponderating and majestic march tune. Later, after the chimes have been heard again, a solemn epilogue brings the symphony to a close.