In 1904, Pleyel’s had commissioned Debussy to compose a work to demonstrate the musical potential of their own new design of harp. Instead of the conventional pedal instrument, Pleyel had devised in 1897 a ‘chromatic harp’ with a string for each semi-tone. Erard’s design eventually proved the most successful, but like the Ravel, Debussy’s Danses are now well-established in the conventional pedal harp repertoire. The ‘danse sacrée’ has an antique character, coloured by modal rather than tonal harmony, influenced perhaps by the style of Satie’s famous Gymnopédies for piano (two of which Debussy orchestrated), but far more sophisticated: in the composer’s word: ‘It’s not possible to write down the exact form of a rhythm, any more than it is to explain the different effects of a single phrase’. The contrasting ‘danse profane’ introduces gentle waltz theme in D major which is developed with exquisite grace and increasingly elaborate harp ornamentation, building to an impassioned climax and deliberately understated finish, almost tongue-in-cheek.

I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio. Sehr fierlich und sehr langsam
III. Scherzo and Trio. Sehr Schnell (very fast)
IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht schnell (with movement, but not fast)

Anton Bruckner (1824–96) composed mainly choral music for the Roman Catholic Church and some of the most astonishingly original symphonies in the canon of Western music. His music is inspired by Renaissance polyphony, Schubertian lyricism, Wagnerian chromaticism, and a level of symphonic ambition inspired by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. From these diverse influences, Bruckner forged through his eleven symphonies (numbered from "00", through "0", to No.9) an increasingly sophisticated style, creating music of unceasing spiritual inquiry on an epic scale. Both the richness of Bruckner’s musical imagination and the level of emotional depth makes the length of symphonic structures logical and compelling.

The Seventh Symphony was Bruckner’s first public triumph. Composed between 1881 and 1883, it was first performed in Leipzig in 1884, conducted by Arthur Nikisch, and performances throughout Europe followed rapidly. The first movement opens with Bruckner’s characteristic pianissimo tremolando in the violins, above which the ’cellos and first horn soar upwards with their opening melody, which, according to Derek Watson, ‘seems to pass through a series of noble, vaulted arches’. This melody, and fragments from it, pervade the music to the closing bars of the Finale. Bruckner’s second idea is a more lyrical melody underpinned by repeated harmonies in horns and trumpet; this swells into the first climax of the work, after which a highly rhythmic third main idea is presented. The second half of the movement develops these three themes in music ranging from extreme intimacy to intense drama, including a C-minor outburst of the opening melody, presented in a robust three-part canon. Whispered timpani and double basses augur a final interlude calm and solemnity, which prepares an immense E-major peroration of ecstatic power.

The second movement, marked ‘very slow and very solemn’, is in C-sharp minor, a key barely touched upon by the first movement. (This deliberate strategy of Bruckner’s, typical of the immense care with which he structured the ‘tonal narrative’ of his symphony.) Bruckner composed this movement in the knowledge that Richard Wagner, whose music he admired fervently, was dying, and the addition of a quartet of Wagner Tubas to the orchestra has both musical and personal symbolism. These instruments, with violas, present the elegiac opening melody, continued with in passionate declamatory style by the violins. After an impassioned outburst, we hear a faster, lyrical melody of great tenderness in F-sharp major; both sections are repeated in more elaborate versions, following by a return of the opening melody in the tubas under a new violin accompaniment; an allusion to the ‘Non confundar in aeternum’ from Bruckner’s Te Deum appears in the trombones, leading to the biggest climax of the entire symphony, crowed with a single cymbal crash. Bruckner referred to the Wagner Tuba quartet section that followed as ‘funeral music for the Master’ [Wagner], which leads the music to a serene conclusion.

After the spiritual intensity of the first two movements, the third, ‘very fast’, is an essay in raw, profane energy. The opening scherzo contrasts with a lyrical F-major ‘trio’ section of pastoral charm, after which the opening music is repeated.

The fourth movement starts with a jaunty idea related closely to the first movement’s opening melody, followed by a chorale melody in the strings (A-flat major). This is interrupted by a fortissimo unison version of the first theme (A minor). A moment of dramatic menace in violins and violas is soon swept aside in favour of more light-hearted variations on the opening theme, leading back to the fortissimo, then the chorale melody. A final return of the first melody builds to a climax, after which the E-major coda serves as a triumphant culmination, not only to the movement, but to the entire symphony and Bruckner’s immense spiritual vision.

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Christ Church Festival Orchestra was founded ten years ago and comprises current and former students from the University, many of whom have graduated to professional careers. In ten years the Orchestra has given concerts frequently in Christ Church Cathedral, but has also appeared with Sir Thomas Allen at the Sheldonian Theatre, in the Playhouse playing Carmen with the Oxford Operatic Society, and at the Town Hall, where each December it metamorphoses into an authentic nineteenth-century dance orchestra for the European Affairs Society’s sell-out annual Viennese Ball. Outside Oxford, the Orchestra has played in major London venues including St. John’s Smith Square, St. James’ Piccadilly and St. Giles Cripplegate, and last year toured overseas for the first time to Italy as guests of the University of Bologna. The Orchestra is also proud if its social dimension: over £70,000 raised for six charities in the last five years.

The Orchestra wishes to thank the Dean, Chapter and all the staff of Christ Church Cathedral, the Christ Church Music Society, Emma Walsh and the Christ Church Association, the Faculty of Music for timpani and rehearsal facilities, the Catholic Chaplaincy and the Chaplain of St. Peter’s College for rehearsal venues, the Welwyn Garden City Music Society for percussion instruments, Jonathan Banks and Max-Print, High Street, Oxford, for publicity, and friends and family for their help and loyal support.