Information about pieces and composers, and the OrchMap, an interactive map of the orchestra with LPO players introducing their instruments.
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Gustav Holst was born in 1874 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, into a musical family, including a great-grandfather and grandfather who had both been composers and harp teachers. His father was an organist and choirmaster in Cheltenham, and his mother was a talented singer and pianist. As a child, he played the piano, violin
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources
In Autumn 2024, OrchLab worked with groups from Antill Road (Look Ahead Care Support & Housing) and New Court Place (Shaftesbury) on a project inspired by The Planets by Gustav Holst. Holst (1874-1934) was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and, after injury prevented him from pursuing a career as a pianist, he worked as a trombonist,
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Composers often use pictures as a starting point for the pieces of music they create. For instance, in 1874 the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky created Pictures at an Exhibition, a piano piece which was inspired by the art works of the painter Viktor Hartmann. Mussorgsky went to an exhibition of Hartmann’s paintings at the Imperial
Posted in Create & Compose, Listen & Discover, Resources
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a child prodigy – by the age of 12 he had written several operas and string symphonies, as well as a large amount of chamber and piano music. Two works which he wrote when he was 16 and 17 years old (the Octet and Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream) are
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George Gershwin (1898-1937) Despite George Gershwin’s humble beginnings and short life (he died at the age of 38), he became one of the most famous and successful American composers of all time, and his music is still extremely popular and played all over the world. Though he started his career as a popular jazz composer,
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Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Igor Stravinsky is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant and pioneering composers of the twentieth century. He was born into a very musical family in St Petersburg, Russia. His father was a successful opera singer, and Stravinsky studied piano from a young age. A visit to see ‘The Sleeping Beauty’
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In Autumn 2023, OrchLab worked with groups from Oak View (Look Ahead Care Support & Housing) and Bradbury Court (Livability) on a project inspired by Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók. Bartók (1881-1945) was a Hungarian composer, and is often considered to be one of the most important composers of the twentieth century, particularly because
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In our OrchLab workshops, participants make and perform music together using a range of instruments, including percussion, digital instruments, and their voices. The team at Drake Music have designed and created a set of touch instruments which make traditional orchestral instruments more accessible to OrchLab participants. The Touch Oboe is an accessible version of the
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources, Staff guidance & training
In our OrchLab workshops, participants make and perform music together using a range of instruments, including percussion, digital instruments, and their voices. The team at Drake Music have designed and created a set of touch instruments which make traditional orchestral instruments more accessible to OrchLab participants. The Touch Trombone is an accessible version of the
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources, Staff guidance & training