We have now reached the penultimate instalment of our Americana series.
There have been some works that I have found very impressive, but I couldn't quite connect with (Copland Piano Concerto); some that I have found quite charming (Alden's Adventures in a Perambulator); and some that I struggled to enjoy (Virgil Thomson's Three Pictures for Orchestra).
However, in this third programme, I have found a work that not only do I like, but I am asking how I've never heard it before.
David Diamond's Rounds for String Orchestra is by all accounts one of the composer’s best known works and is performed with some frequency in the States. I think it mighty rude of our American cousins to have kept this work pretty much to themselves since its composition in 1944!
A three movement work, although the movements are performed attacca, the work follows a fairly traditional fast-slow-fast structure. The outer movements are uplifting and exhilarating, whilst the middle movement is tender and romantic. There is an air of 'film love scene' to the second movement - I think it is very beautiful.
It sometimes feels like we string players get a bit of a rough deal in terms of the number of notes needing to be learnt for each programme, only to have them overshadowed by beautiful wind solos, or covered somewhat by big brass chorales, so it is sometimes nice to play a work like this that allows the strings a little bit of proper show-off, in the limelight time.
There are so many works of great invention for a string orchestra - an ensemble that has a seemingly infinite palette of colours and timbres - that I find it an immensely satisfying ensemble to play in.
Naturally, this got me thinking about what my favourite works for string ensemble are, so here for your delight and delectation, are my top five (subject to change at any time depending on my mood) works for string orchestra:
1) Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagète
Stravinsky composed this work for a ballet by choreographer George Balanchine and tells the story of the muses visiting Apollo. There is something so warm and poised about it - it is one of my favourite all time works.
2) Tippett's Concerto for Double String Orchestra
I first got to know this work as a student and although it is challenging, it is so exuberant you almost forget that your brain is working overtime.
3) Stravinsky's Concerto in D
There are moments of this work that are quite similar to Apollon, but the last movement has one of the sassiest viola parts - it's so jazzy to play!
4) Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
I think this work is sublime, and in a venue that allows, can be exceptionally theatrical. We last performed it in the BBC Proms in 2012 with Tadaaki Otaka. The small string orchestra were seated up in the gods of the Albert Hall, so their first entry sounded almost like imaginary music - you could hear it, but they were completely out of sight.
5) Bartók's Divertimeno for Strings
Our Swansea audience can hear us perform this work on 21 February 2014 with our chief conductor Thomas Søndergård at the helm.
So, those are my top 5 works for sting orchestra - we'd love to hear what stringy wonders our audience love most!
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform David Diamond's Round for String Orchestra today at BBC Hoddinott Hall, 2pm. It will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and available to listen for seven days afterwards on BBC iPlayer Radio.
