Conductor,
P. S. G. O'Donnell
Thorpe Bates (baritone) 1 The Lord Zouche's March. 2 A Jigg, Dr. Bull's Myself. 3 The
Earl of Salisbury's Pavan. 4 Spagnioletta. 5 Corranto. 6 Tower Hill
Beethoven wrote four overtures to his single opera Fidelio, which was first produced in Vienna on November 20, 1805. The overtures are known as ' Leonora ' Nos. 1, 2, and 3 and ' Fidelio'. 'Leonora' No. 2 was written for the first production. No. 3 for the revival in March, 1806, and No. 1 for a performance at Prague which never materialised. They take their names from the fact that the original title of the opera was ' Leonore, ou l'arnour conjugal The book, written by Bovilly, was adapted for the purposes of Fidelio by Sonnleithner.
' Leonora ' No. 3 is considered to be not only the best of the Fidelio overtures, but one of the finest of all Beethoven's overtures. The music is highly dramatic and is based on some of the most outstanding tunes in the opera.
Vaughan Williams 's enthusiastic interest in English folk tunes is known to everybody. It has influenced his own composition in a striking way, lending it much of its distinctively English character.
In this Suite the tunes are presented quite simply and tell their own story with no other added interest than that of effective accompaniment and instrumentation.
The first movement is on the tune ' Seventeen Come Sunday ; the second, which the composer has called ' Intermezzo ' is ' My Bonny Boy ', with a short, merry section in the middle of the movement ; the third is a March built up on folk songs from Somerset — an effective and vigorous march with an alternative section in six-eight time.