Thank you all for your very kind comments, it was a most fantastic evening last night, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the setting up of the Gerald Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust at the former Jersey Zoo.
The compère for the evening was Robert Hall, the BBC News and Events broadcaster. We began with "Carnival of the Animals" by Saint-Saëns and lovers of this piece will know that there are some very difficult piano parts for two soloists on two pianos. These were most brilliantly played by Roderick Elms, a life-long musical friend of my brother's and a regular pianist with the RPO, and Christopher George who is very much involved with music here in Jersey. They gave an encore by way of an arrangement for two pianos of "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" saying that bears were otherwise not getting a look-in during the concert!
Next we had Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" with the narrator being Martin Clunes. He did an excellent job, adding the right injection of humour to the words which had been adapted in places to suit the local environment. For example, towards the end Peter implores the hunters not to shoot the wolf, but to take him into the Durrell Conservation area to help with protecting the species
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After the interval, we resumed the music with Vaughan Williams overture "The Wasps" and the RPO were in top form in this lovely piece brilliantly interpreted by their conductor Barry Wordsworth. Then came my brother's Durrell Suite, announced as a World Première performance. Martin Clunes was back on stage again to introduce each of the five movements using words from Gerald Durrell's own writings. We began with "Fanfare for a Special Man", the title being a nod towards the famous Aaron Copeland fanfare "for a Simple Man" and that set the scene for the other four movements.
The second movement is "Fugue for a Spider's Web" using this title to convey the imagery of how fragile natural earth is. It is scored in 4/4 time in G minor in classical fugue style, using strings and woodwind to good effect. I particularly liked the way the melody is played canon-style passing from 1st violins, through 2nd violins, violas and cellos to end with the double basses. It then passes upwards through each of the woodwind instruments while the brass supply supporting chords.
Movement 3 is "The Pink Pigeon", a particular success story for Durrell in preventing a specy from going into extinction. It is in the form of a nocturne in 3/4 in the key of D major and makes good use of a harp and solo violin to convey the delicate beauty of this bird. The ending has the violin soaring upwards to represent the successful release of the protected birds back into the wild.
My own favourite is the fourth movement - "Madagascan Masquerade" and Martin Clunes read how Durrell first saw the lemurs there. Derek makes use of two flutes to represent lemurs running and prancing mischievously in a 6/8 time in F, with the melody bouncing back and forward between the two flutes in a very syncopated style supported rhythmically by pizzicato on the strings. Brass and percussion take the middle section before the flutes take over again to lead the whole orchestra in bringing the piece to a conclusion.
The final movement is called "Eden in our Hands" and is from a Durrell plea to young people to learn from the mistakes of their elders and help to conserve wildlife on this planet. It begins with a lovely sober melody in 4/4 in F major carried first by the violins and then the flutes followed by oboes and clarinets. The melody comes to a climax in the full orchestra before moving into Bb when a 200 strong children's choir starts singing a new, more hopeful melody. This is very moving, with very evocative words from Derek's longstanding friend Michael Heath, an actor, singer, composer, lyicist and author. I am pleased to say that Michael was able to be present during the concert and take his share of the credit for this movement.
When it came to an end, it brought the audience in excess of 1500 people to their feet with loud applause, cheers, whistling and foot stamping! I know the audience was sharing this with the children, the RPO, Barry Wordsworth, Martin Clunes and Michael Heath, but for me it was for my brother and it certainly brought tears of pride and joy to my eyes! Martin and Barry called for Derek and Michael to join them on stage and we listened while Gerald Durrell's widow, Lee Durrell said thanks to all those involved. At the end, Robert Hall asked if we wanted to hear some more, so the evening closed with a repeat of the Madagascan Masquerade, but with a difference--- Derek turned to face the children, who by this time had each taken up a small Jersey flag, and "conducted" them in a sequence of intricate flag waving in time with the music
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I'm sorry I have taken up so much space, but I hope you find some of this interesting. It was certainly a memorable evening for all those who attended.
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Hope you all have fun tomorrow 