10 Pieces

Ripon Cathedral

ON SPRING bank holiday Saturday afternoon more than 200 children and adults awaited the signal to begin Handel’s Zadok the Priest in a concert promoted by the St Cecilia Orchestra.

It celebrated the BBC's 10 Pieces scheme to bring classical music to primary schoolchildren.

More than 100 children, along with the Vocalis and the St Paulinus Singers, and the St Cecilia Orchestra combined in the event that culminated months of hard work with local schoolchildren by teacher Jess Hayne.

An orchestra of nearly 70 children joined the St Cecilia in two of the nine pieces performed. Remarkably, they had every instrument except a viola, giving the children a wonderful opportunity to join in John Adams' Short Ride on a Fast Machine and the finale to Stravinsky’s Firebird.

The children had already demonstrated their skills in other concerts in the area. This was hosted by music teacher and well-known singer, Paul Dutton, with conductor Xen Kelsey aided by Jess Hayne, who helped keep musical order in the children's contributions.

No-one could fail to be impressed by the magnificent opening work, Zadok the Priest. A taste of what it is to be an outstanding musician was heard in Ian Wildsmith’s playing of the last movement of Mozart’s 4th Horn Concerto, and the orchestra’s playing of Mars from Holst’s suite The Planets was hair-raising.

Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bare Mountain seemed one scary piece too far. Why not choose, for example, Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture or the opening of his Italian Symphony? However, Dutton was right when he said everyone would leave with the final chords of Firebird ringing in their ears.

Mounting this concert was a tremendous achievement, doing full justice to the scheme and a great example of how groups can develop initiatives to involve children in music-making.

John Mitchell