Director Gilby bows out in style

Music / “Elgar and Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings”, Canberra Strings. At All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie, September 17. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

“SERENADE for Strings” by Tchaikovsky is one of the most dramatic and majestic works in all classical music for a string ensemble.

The players in Canberra Strings for this concert were Barbara Jane Gilby, Jack Chenoweth, Samantha Boston, Tim Wickham, Pip Thompson, John Ma, Lauren Davis, Michelle Zarb, violins, Lucy Carrigy-Ryan, Liz Chalker, violas, Samuel Payne, Liam Meany, cellos, Isabella Brown, double bass.

After leading the Canberra Strings for many years, Barbara Jane Gilby has decided to step away from the director’s role of the group. Hopefully, they can keep her experience and talent as a player.

Elgar’s “Serenade for String Orchestra” in E minor, in three short movements, opened this sold-out concert. It was a happy, overflowing capacity audience. The understated but well-known beginning of Elgar’s serenade immediately transports a listener to a serene place. Its cunning opening motive, followed by luscious, rich, full strings, breathed a gentle perspective. The sound quality of this group, with their largest number yet, filled the church with an elegant and refined warmth.

The larghetto is a yearning reflective section. Its held-back nature was expressed in an equally subtle style. Most delightful. The final allegretto movement reflected a more stated and marked flair. While lush and at the same time thoughtful, it’s at play with itself through short motives that blend to make a solemn ending.

Then, Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings”. With its unmistakably passionate, yearning opening notes, this music hits like few other pieces. It’s not a statement of grief, but one of passionate experience. The sublime orchestration of notes, set in a dramatic story, shows how music is like no other art form. This serenade owns a unique place in the history of music.

Every pizzicato and phrase were in total unison. Every player made the first movement a thing of beauty. The waltz tempo second movement is a playful, lighthearted piece at a moderate pace. The many colours that Tchaikovsky was able to instil in his music come alive in this section. It’s animated and danceable.

The third movement is an elegy. While it’s slow, it’s not sorrowful. It’s deeply introspective, and it is always pushing. It pushes its way to the spirited finale in the gentlest manner.

The last movement begins where the third left off before it springs to life with an exuberant tune.

It rushes with urgency and determination. It builds until once again, that most emotionally charged writing from the very first opening section descends on a listener with its crashing waves of heart-tearing notes. The audience adored it.

Director Gilby bows out in style