Reviews

Preview of Oxford concert by the St Giles Orchestra

Promotion from double bass player to conductor in one evening might sound like a Cinderella story, but that's what happened to Geoff Bushell – and he's been enthusiastically wielding the baton for St Giles Orchestra ever since.

"The conductor hadn't turned up to a rehearsal," he recalls, "and when somebody went to phone him up it turned he that he had decided he no longer wanted to be the conductor but hadn't told anybody! For reasons that I still don't understand, one of the founder members of the orchestra turned to me and said, 'Geoff, would you like to conduct?' If I’m honest, I'd always had a secret ambition to conduct, but didn't have the skills, so I said I'd see what I could do. That was 27 years ago!"

The orchestra was founded in 1980 by Nicholas Hooper, a guitarist and composer who has since written scores for Channel 4 documentaries and for Harry Potter films. Known then as the South Oxford Orchestra, it opened on June 28, with tickets priced at just £1. Today they cost a bit more than that, but the increase is justified. The orchestra has expanded from a membership of just 11 players to a healthy 54, and Geoff has completed a four-year conducting course [Conductors note: actually four years of annual two week intensive conducting courses], which has enabled him to take the orchestra to new levels.

"The technical standard has improved significantly over the years, which has meant that we can tackle increasingly difficult repertoire," he says. "There are some pieces that I never thought we'd be ready to play, and we have done them."

The orchestra has covered much of the popular classical repertoire over the years, and Geoff measures possible audience appeal of pieces by using the Classic FM Top 300 as a benchmark.

But he likes to explore less familiar territory as well. "It’s nice to do something a bit different from time to time. I'm a fan of the late Romantic repertoire, so occasionally I offer the orchestra one of these pieces, and we slot it into an otherwise popular programme. So not only do the players get a chance to do something they wouldn’t have done, we can also bring something new to the audience. I like to improve things – I'm always feeling that there's something better one can do, and I'm always slightly dissatisfied with the status quo. I think that's a helpful attitude to have as a conductor, because you can motivate the orchestra, to achieve more than it thought it was capable of achieving. You can motivate players to go away and work on the difficult bits, and come together on a Thursday evening and really make some nice sounds."

Hopefully the orchestra will be making nice sounds on Saturday [19 June 2010], with its nightingale-themed concert of vocal showpieces, featuring soprano Yukiko Ishida, a music teacher based in Philadelphia. Among songs by Bax, Alabiev, Saint Saëns, Granados and Johann Strauss, as well as Smetana's stirring Ma Vlast, will be the world premiere of Geoff's own piece, The Nightingale, which he wrote for Yukiko. The Japanese-born singer's involvement with the orchestra came about by chance. "Some time I ago I wanted to do Glière's Concerto for Coloratura Soprano, which is a very demanding piece for a singer, and needs a very high register, which many singers don't have. I put an advert on our website, and I got an email from Yukiko, who was researching for her own performance of this piece in Philadelphia, and said that if we ever needed a soloist for this she'd be very interested.

"We can't afford to pay people's air fares, but she was prepared to do that herself, and the result was that she came all the way from Philadelphia to do that concert. We got on well with her, and she’s been back since for another concert. She has a wonderful voice."

Looking ahead the orchestra has a Last Night of the Proms at the Cornerstone in Didcot, on November 6 and 7. "It’s extremely popular with the audience and enjoyable for the orchestra," says Geoff. "I hope there'll be some audience participation in singing Land of Hope and Glory and all those other favourites. We're currently planning our purchase of Union Jack flags!"

Ultimately, Geoff believes his job is all about striving for what's best for everyone. "I've tried to create an environment where everyone is getting what they want from it. We want to do things that are enjoyable for the audience and rewarding for the players. We can't always keep everyone happy, but at least we think about it, and I think that’s important."

Nicola Lisle
Oxford Times
16 June 2010
Reproduced with permission

St Giles Orchestra is 30 this year, and while Saturday's concert wasn't billed as an anniversary event, it easily could have been with this feel-good programme. The opening piece, Josek Suk's Fantastic Scherzo, certainly had a celebratory feel to it, and got the evening off to a rousing start with a performance that abounded with energy and warmth. Particularly memorable was the lovely fluid, sonorous tone from the cellos in the recurring waltz theme, but the brass and wind sections also made their presence felt in this joyful miniature.

Former orchestra leader Caroline Duffner, now a professional violinist based in Vienna, returned to the fold for Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto Opus 35. The composer's intended soloist, Leopold Auer, was apparently uncomfortable with the technical demands of this piece, but Duffner had no qualms, and she dazzled with her virtuosic handling of Tchaikovsky's melodic and rhythmic gymnastics, while her impressive double stopping and glissando in the extended first movement cadenza was mesmerising in its brilliance.

It was hard to believe, listening to the joyful outbursts during the first movement, that Tchaikovsky was recovering from depression when he wrote this piece. A darker mood pervaded the second movement, though, and conductor Geoffrey Bushell ensured a poignant contrast between the two moods. The third movement was a contrast again, with a rousing Russian Cossack march – here, Tchaikovsky the ballet composer was very much in evidence.

Beethoven's Pastoral symphony is arguably his loveliest, with that glorious opening melody that rises dreamily before breaking into a joyous crescendo. The players were clearly enjoying the lighter mood, and did full justice to Beethoven's evocative melodies that so effectively conjure up images of pastoral serenity. The second movement was played with great tenderness, while the final movement captured the exuberance of the opening and the sudden violence of the storm to great effect.

This was my first experience of the St Giles Orchestra but not, I hope, my last.

Nicola Lisle
Oxford Times
April 2010
Reproduced with permission

Charles Mutter and I recently performed the Brahms Double Concerto with St Giles Orchestra in Oxford. This was an extremely enjoyable experience. The orchestra played with assurance and sensitivity and gave us a very warm welcome. Geoffrey Bushell conducted the orchestra with musicality and control, allowing Charles and me to play with freedom and expression. We both look forward to playing with the orchestra again.

Katharine Wood
Cello soloist in Brahms Double Concerto
Cello, Philharmonia Orchestra
January 2009

Dear Geoff

Thanks again for Saturday - Katharine and I enjoyed it so much, we felt thoroughly supported by you and the orchestra. When we were rehearsing it together beforehand I kept saying "we must be responsible, not expect too much in the way of flexibility etc." But I really needn't have worried! So refreshing to have a conductor that knows how to accompany - you're one of a very rare breed - and you've obviously impressed that upon the orchestra. Great work.

Charles Mutter
Violin soloist in Brahms Double Concerto
Associate Leader, BBC Concert Orchestra
January 2009

I have had occasion to praise the work of the 'pro/am' orchestras before, and I am very glad to be able to do so again. The St Giles Orchestra in Oxford has a really valuable asset in its conductor Geoffrey Bushell. Not only does he (with the Orchestra's approval) include an interesting but unplayed, but sometimes quite unknown, work in virtually every concert – for example both its two previous concerts included concertos by Max Bruch! – but he also has a real gift for getting the players 'inside' the music, and to understand what any particular piece of Elgar or Delius, for example, or a part of a piece, is 'about'.

The main difficulty which affects virtually every pro/am orchestra is tuning – and if the tuning-up before the music begins is not really accurate, all sorts of curious sounds will emerge along the way. Regrettably that was the case at this concert, but it was nevertheless an extremely enjoyable one, because everyone was going in the right direction. The other 'down' was a couple of those unfortunate spells of 'collective panic' that sometimes strike pro/am performances; happily, however, they righted themselves quite quickly.

In many ways, the colossal first and last sections of Elgar's In the South are the most extrovert music that Elgar ever wrote – and there was real excitement and a sense of forward movement in the surging opening tune that goes up three octaves. The wistfulness of the first quiet section was well caught, the big 'Rome' bit was suitably imposing, and in the calm centre section, the viola solo was sensitively played – the moonlight on the sea, the warmth of an Italian night and the gently rocking boats beautifully evoked. Then the sense of excitement and urgency returned, and the elan of the final pages, crescendoing upwards and upwards, was authentic Elgar playing. The acoustics of the church, however, made it difficult for the brief pauses and the off-beat entries to tell as they would in a good hall.

In Brigg Fair, the hazy opening and the theme (taken a little more slowly than usual) were lovely, the latter sounding very much as Joseph Taylor might have sung it. The Lento variation in the middle was excellent – well balanced, with some sweet violin tone, and a well-played horn solo; the 'march' variation was not actually very solemn, or as maestoso as it could have been – and as the music quickened up towards the big climax, the prominent violin accompaniment to the tune (which then gets taken over by the clarinet) did lack that rhapsodic Delian feel. The flow of one variation into the next was, however, very well managed, and there was never any feeling of mentally stopping to adjust to the new tempo and atmosphere. The acoustics, again, did not help, and quite a number of prominent inner parts failed to come through the texture – but that was not, of course, the fault of the conductor or orchestra. To sum up – it may not have been echt-Delius, but it was nevertheless very enterprising programming, and they made a very good shot at it.

The final work in the concert was the Dvorak Cello Concerto, with William Bass as the soloist. He was very good in the quiet music – a warm, sweet tone, and both the famous second subject of the first movement (initially played by the first horn) and the end of the whole work were beautiful; in the extrovert parts, however, he was less convincing.

Throughout the concert, the Orchestra – who are all amateurs or music teachers in local schools – obviously enjoyed themselves, and that certainly communicated itself to the quite sizeable audience.

Martin Leigh-Browne, CBE
Editor, The Delius Society Journal, Issue 144
The Delius Society
Reproduced with permission

As we have said before, how lucky the more serious-minded musical public are that there are pro/am local orchestras all over the country who are prepared to perform really out-of-the-way works by British composers written in the period between about 1885 and the late 1930s. The St Giles Orchestra in Oxford is one of them, and – 65 strong, with an audience of well over 100 – they opened this concert at the extremely fine Victorian church of St Andrew's in Summertown with Delius's very rarely played Lebenstanz. It is difficult to see why that should be so, for it is only 12 minutes long, brimming with boisterous energy very much like the last big climax before the end of Brigg Fair (both are, of course, in triple rhythm), the dynamics ranging from lots of fffs to pppp. It is, though, a very difficult piece for an orchestra such as this with which to begin a concert, for the players simply haven't yet 'warmed-up' and got rid of their understandable 'before it's got going' nerves. There are lots of very fast notes for everyone – in particular, for instruments that don't generally play that sort of thing, the contra bassoon, horns and trumpets – and it has to be said that the general ensemble and tuning, both here and throughout the concert were dubious. On the plus side, however, there was not only patent overall enthusiasm for everything they played, but also what seemed to be a genuine feeling for the Delian idiom. The audience will certainly have learned that all Delius is not slow and languorous!

Perhaps not surprisingly, that was truer of the very undemonstrative conductor, Geoffrey Bushell. He brought out the completely characteristics of, on the one hand, the con vigore of the beginning and the other fast music, and on the other the lento and tranquillo sections into which the former sinks, whose ebb and flow he caught nicely. Although the repertoire is based on suggestions from members of the Orchestra, they are clearly given a strong 'steer' by Mr Bushell – as witness the fact that the second item in this concert was a very Russian-sounding piece, The Cedar and the Palm by Vassily Kallinikova, a contemporary of Scriabin; the next concert, on 21 June will include the first UK amateur performance of Frank Bridge's Isabella; and Brigg Fair is to be played in 2008.

There were also included an attractive, gently rhapsodic piece by Geoffrey Bushell, the Finale of Swan lake, and an affectionate, if sometimes scrappily played, Enigma Variations. Here Elgar's skills as an orchestrator really helped the players achieve a very respectable balance in many places – and, as always, the organ added that almost indefinable something to the (for this listener really quite moving) last 99 bars. All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and long may the orchestra continue its adventurous programming!

Martin Leigh-Browne, CBE
Editor, The Delius Society Journal, Issue 141
The Delius Society
Reproduced with permission

On the Saturday evening, as part of the Flower Festival, there was a concert by St Giles Orchestra. The programme was varied and the performance was excellent. The Church was full, and the entire evening was enjoyed by all who came.

The Magazine of Grove Parish Church
Autumn 1989

Ambitious St Giles

With the charm and poise of leader Emily Ormerod, and the enthusiasm of conductors Geoffrey Bushell and Mervyn Keeble, the St Giles Orchestra gave a well-attended concert in Pusey House on Saturday.

Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel Overture had some excellent brass and woodwind playing, and Mozart's Symphony No. 31 was treated to some careful phrasing and dynamics.

Brahms's Third Symphony was far more of a challenge; but despite a fair share of wrong or explosive notes and some knotted-up cross rhythms, this had many beautiful moments, notably in the central movements.

In the end, though, this did leave me with the question of why so many amateur orchestras so often insist on offering such ambitious fare when easier and perhaps more performable works are available.

That is not to deny the educational value (in the widest sense) of such experiences as playing Brahms's Third; but from the audience's point of view the entertainment value of such experiences is often disproportionately small.

Paul Diffley
Oxford Mail
23 January 1989

The St Giles Orchestra, conducted by Geoffrey Bushell and led by teenager Emily Ormerod, gave us a chance to hear works rarely performed on the concert platform in Pusey House, Oxford, on Saturday.

After Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, they gave a persuasive account of Saint Saens' Second Symphony – a welcome change from the more popular Third.

Occasional technical problems – weak string intonation, unreliable brass, and an insubstantial orchestral sound – were more than compensated for by the hushed subdued feel of the second movement and the lively articulation of the last.

Violinist Harry Crooks then brought just the right warmth of tone to the third movement of Delius' Violin Suite.

A sunny extrovert performance of Beethoven's Eighth Symphony with well chosen speeds and reliable intonation brought the concert to a happy conclusion.

Paul Diffley
Oxford Mail
18 April 1988

Tuneful new work

Under the baton of Geoffrey Bushell and with the able leadership of Emily Ormerod, the St Giles Orchestra has made notable advances in a short time as their concert at Pusey House on Saturday showed.

Perhaps Beethoven's Egmont (conducted by Sally Collings) was on the cautious side and lacked bite, but this was fully redeemed by the performance of Geoffrey Bushell's Space Symphony, conducted by the composer.

This work is substantial in bulk, but remains, despite its title, essentially a lightweight suite. It is unashamedly derivative (late Romantic sounds and textures prevail) yet it has the merit of being both highly tuneful and skilfully orchestrated – factors which make it fun to play and fun to hear. And the playing on Saturday was lively and atmospheric.

The orchestra then took a discrete backseat in a thoughtful account of Mozart's 21st Piano Concerto.

Here soloist John Oxlade, who can always be relied upon to bring the highest standards of musicianship to his playing, achieved something quintessentially Mozartian with his gentle limpid touch and his delicate bone-china tone.

The concert ended very well with a moving and spaciously conceived performance of Vaughan Williams' Toward the Unknown Region, in which the orchestra was joined by the St Cecilia Singers and the Oxford Purcell Consort.

Paul Diffley
Oxford Mail
18 January 1988

On Saturday, 5th July, an orchestral concert was held in St. Nicholas Church which provided a delightful evening for music lovers. It was given by St Giles Orchestra, conducted by Geoffrey Bushell. The programme covered a wide range of music, including two compositions written by Geoffrey Bushell himself. There was a beautifully controlled performance by Lara Taylor on the oboe in the Oboe Concerto in C by Mozart and a delightful rendering of Summertime from Sarah Moore on the Cor Anglais.

We are grateful indeed to Mrs Jenny Brown for organising such a successful evening. May we have a repeat please?

On the practical side, it contributed over £150 to the Church Restoration Fund.

Parish News (Islip, Noke and Woodeaton)
August 1987

Soloist inspires

Emma D'Cruz provided the highlight of St Giles Orchestra's concert at Pusey House Chapel on Saturday with her marvellous playing of Carl Reinecke's D Major Flute Concerto.

This rarely-heard work was played with great artistry by Miss D'Cruz whose technical dexterity, flexibility of phrasing and rich tone made a deep impression. The central slow movement was similarly fine.

The orchestra led by Noreen Petrie and perhaps inspired by the soloist, also produced their best performance in the Concerto, under the assured conducting of Geoffrey Bushell.

In Grieg's two Peer Gynt Suites and the Prelude to Wagner's Tristan und Isolde the orchestra achieved a good sound in the full ensemble passages, with Mr Bushell capturing the sweep and architecture of the music in a most convincing way.

John Oxlade
Oxford Mail
6 April 1987

St Giles Orchestra wave a very enjoyable programme of symphonic music by Elgar, Weber and Dvorak in the beautiful setting of Pusey House Chapel on Saturday.

The warmth and richness of Elgar's Froissart Overture was well caught by the players in a heady performance with especially sterling work for the brass. Conductor Geoffrey Bushell provided a well-balanced and sympathetic accompaniment to Weber's Bassoon Concerto where Pat Goddard seemed to make light work of the technical demands of the work.

Most satisfying of all, however, was Dvorak's D major Symphony where all sections of the orchestra had a chance to shine.

John Oxlade
Oxford Mail
8 December 1986

On Sunday 25th June St Giles Orchestra, conductor Geoffrey Bushell, gave a concert at St Leonard's Church, Sunningwell. I, at a somewhat late date, have been asked to comment on it. This I am not really equipped to do, and indeed two pieces I do not remember hearing before.

The overture, Italian Girl in Algiers (with its exposed wind playing at so early a stage!) was an excellent start, the conductor putting the crescendos and diminuendos to good effect.

The Delius (the pieces are mentioned below) was certainly appreciated. When, during the interval, I mentioned that he was not really my cup of tea, he is however for me still 'sound for thought'. On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring seemed to want more edge to the sound. In any case the cuckoo in this piece always sounds sad. Perhaps there has been a reaction from the fosterers' nest. The Serenade for Wind went well, with good support from the double bass.

During the interval we appreciated the flowers of the flower festival [*], kept fresh for us during the day by an occasional spray of water. this was followed by two pieces, Elgar's Serenade for Strings and Haydn's Clock Symphony. These two together made time a bit heavy towards the end, mainly I think due to the Haydn Andante and rather slow minuet. One might consider putting the Haydn in the first part of the concert and ending with the Serenade for Strings, its last movement being quite appropriate for this.

Somewhat unfairly, due to personal bias, the comments on the Valse Triste have been left last. It is probably the easiest to play, at least as far as the notes are concerned (but anyone who has recorded themselves trying to play a Strauss waltz will know what I mean), and I know nothing of Kuolema which the program notes mention. However my active interest in waltzing and my gene make-up results in the opening of Valse Triste arousing past memories which develop to the present as the music reaches standard waltz time and then calmly closes. The playing left me wishing for an empty ballroom, music and an experienced partner.

After their hard work, as an appreciation by the audience, the applause suggested an encore. the conductor's arrangement of Summertime was given in which we had the unexpected pleasure of a Cor Anglais taking the dominant role.

Ralph Dawton
July 1986

[ * Note from conductor Geoffrey Bushell: The flower festival was organised by my mother Doris Bushell]

St Giles Orchestra offered a varied and demanding programme on Saturday in Pusey House Chapel under conductor Geoffrey Bushell.

Johan Svendsen's light-hearted Fest Polonaise led to the more serious stuff of Elgar's Cello Concerto while the second half of the concert, after Geoffrey Bushell's own Halley's Comet Fanfare, comprised Debussy's Apres-midi and Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet.

Ursula Smith, cello, performed the difficult Elgar sensitively. Unfortunately the orchestra met only some of the demands made by this and the other music chosen. The intonation in parts of the string section marred too many of their more exposed passages and there was an overall lack of clarity in the faster parts.

However the full orchestra sound was pleasing in the more lyrical passages, the solo flute in the Debussy was pleasantly secure, and Geoffrey Bushell managed some impressive effects.

Christopher Brown
Oxford Mail
17 March 1986

Pusey House Chapel resounded with the interesting sounds produced by St Giles Orchestra on Saturday evening. An unusual programme had been selected by the conductor, Geoffrey Bushell, but the performance of Carl Goldmark's Sakuntala Overture and Henri Duparc's Aux Etoiles left a lot to be desired.

Intonation seemed to vary between painful and excruciating with the strings being especially weak in both tone and discipline.

A happier time was had during Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, with the estimable soloist Mark Etherton playing very expressively and giving the small audience some moments of real pleasure.

The D minor Symphony by Cesar Frank rounded off the evening and was the most successful item with some resounding tutti playing especially from the woodwind and brass.

Richard Petchey

Oxford Mail
16 December 1985

In tune with a summer night

An attractive programme for a summer evening's listening was provided by St Giles Orchestra led by Noreen Petrie in Pusey House Chapel on Saturday.

Conducted by Geoffrey Bushell, the programme offered some English music of the twentieth century. Elgar's mood pieces Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit gave opportunities for some pleasing string tone. Holst's St Paul's Suite received some spirited treatment especially in the Dargason.

A performance by the wind of Debussy's Golliwog's Cake Walk was rather tentative though the arrangement by Geoffrey Bushell was an imaginative one.

The soloist in Mozart's Fourth Horn Concerto was Marshall Stoneham. Mr Stoneham, who plays with the orchestra, appears frequently with both professional and amateur orchestras in the Oxford and Abingdon areas. He also plays regularly in his own ensemble, the Dorchester Wind Players. It was good to hear such lively playing in the famous concerto finale, immortalised by Flanders and Swann.

Richard Strauss' Wind Serenade and Bizet's Symphony made up the melodious second half of the concert, the orchestra showing itself in tune with this warm hearted and youthful music.

Eve Barsham
Oxford Mail
29 July 1985

Bravo Jon!

St Mary's Church, Kidlington, had as a centre piece to its weekend flower festival a musical evening presented by St Giles Orchestra, conducted by Geoffrey Bushell.

The lovely ambience of the church was matched by an excellent performance of Mozart's Fourth Horn Concerto, with teenager Jonathan Barrett as soloist [*].

What an impressive technique he showed, with mellow tone flowing easily and musically. For such a young musician to be so fully in command of his instrument bodes very well for him in future performances – a well-deserved "bravo".

Also offered were two opportunities for the wind to display their talents in Bushell's own arrangement of Debussy's Golliwog's Cake Walk, and the Serenade op. 7 by Strauss. Here there were also many enjoyable moments.

Rounding out the programme was Holst's St Paul's Suite, Bizet's Symphony in C, and three shorter works by Elgar. In spite of the intonation problems, the orchestra showed some fine musical ideas.

The concert will be repeated on 27 July in Pusey House Chapel, with Marshall Stoneham as horn soloist.

Robert Judd
Oxford Mail
15 July 1985

[ * Note: Since leaving St Giles Orchestra, Jonathan Barrett has become the current Principal Horn with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and has previously been Principal Horn of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.]

Solo sparkles

Pusey House Chapel proved to be a well chosen venue for the concert given by St Giles Orchestra on Saturday.

The sixty-strong orchestra led by Noreen Petrie and conducted by Geoffrey Bushell opened with a spirited playing of Jarnefelt's well known and catchy Praeludium.

Then the orchestra was joined by the young violinist, Helen Cass, for Beethoven's Violin Concerto. Helen, who has won several scholarships, is studying at the Royal College in London.

The performance had a great deal of freshness and vigour. In particular the soaring solo melodies of the slow movement over supportive orchestral accompaniment sounded at their most effective in the resonance of the chapel.

The finale, though less confident in entries, nevertheless had sparkle and gaiety.

Bruckner's vast Symphony in E was a daunting choice for the orchestra's last item, but the musical thread was always convincing.

Eve Barsham
Oxford Mail
25 March 1985