As a GCSE Music student, I had the opportunity to attend a performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 5th March. My classmates and I watched a Brightsparks concert, specifically aimed at GCSE Music students.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Brightsparks concerts are aimed at students at school studying Music. They offer students an inspiring insight into what live orchestral music sounds like. In addition to this, there is a presentation in which the pieces performed are analysed carefully. Each year 10,000 Music students, from Key Stage 1 to A-Level, attend these educational and exciting concerts.

The concert – ‘GCSE – Scene and Heard’ – lasted a bit more than an hour. Every minute of it was amazing and the orchestra played extremely beautifully. They mainly focused on the genres film and dance. The performance opened with Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’. The entire audience was filled with awe; no one made a sound. Every musician in the orchestra was outstanding; their talent really shone through. After the first piece, the presenter (Rachel Leach) gave us an on-stage analysis which was very informative!

The second piece was my favourite: extracts from ‘Psycho Suite’ by Bernard Herrman. Even though it is an A-Level set work, I found it very exhilarating., especially the music for the murder scene as it is one of the most famous film cues ever written! It was also very useful for general film music study.

From the genre of dance, we heard Aaron Copland’s ‘Saturday Night Waltz’ and ‘Hoedown’. The conductor, Rebecca Miller, really seemed to enjoy these pieces! However, I think the final piece was everyone’s favourite: the Star Wars theme by John Williams. There could not have been a better ending!

Gangah Sivapooranan