To Be Vivid Stars – a concert out of this world
To Be Vivid Stars. A concert that was truly out of this world.
On Saturday 5 April, Bournemouth and District Concert Band played what was described by one audience member as
the best yet.”
Science fiction theatre
For one evening only, St Peter’s Church Parkstone was transformed into a theatre of science fiction. The phrase “expect the unexpected” certainly comes to mind.
5- 4- 3- 2- 1 Thunderbirds are go!
That was how the show took off with the music hitting the rafters in the vast open space of St Peter’s.
Cosmic flights and a song to the moon
Next up was the titular piece of the concert, Yagisawa’s “To Be Vivid Stars”, an impressionistic piece that took us from the tranquillity of outer space, through a cosmic storm and back to a serene setting in space.
Within the band, individual players showcased their musical skills. On the flugelhorn, Steve played a sublime version of Rusalka’s “Song to the Moon.”
Exterminate! Exterminate! Who needs to phone home?
Daleks made an appearance exploring the church aisles
“Doctor Who through Space and Time” was one of the band’s favourite pieces: both exciting and melodious with percussionist Ben adding in a theremin just like the original.
When the first half of the concert closed with a selection of tunes from E.T., the audience were left wondering what would come next…
Sunrise and the end of the world
Well the second half launched with the dramatic opening from Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss which segued into a truly haunting version of “The Eve of the War” from “War of the Worlds”, written for the band by saxophonist Adam. We even had our own version of Richard Burton performing the famous narration (aka Brian)!
The whole performance was a breathtaking, spine-tingling experience.
Ooga chakas, Ewoks and more
Band doing some final sound checks before the concert, getting used to being near to the Tardis
By way of a light-hearted piece from “Guardians of the Galaxy” (remembering the wonderful ooga chakas!), the concert reached its climax with the 13-minute long Star Wars epic which had been a challenging piece to learn but well worth it. R2-D2, an Ewok and some imperial guards made an appearance to give it a thoroughly authentic feel.
With that the concert concluded… until the encore, which just had to be “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Show ably assisted again by our friend Brian who did a hilarious impression of Riff Raff.
A special mention goes to Gemma who very effectively synchronised appropriate visuals for each of the pieces which added to the totally atmospheric experience.
The audience, very fittingly, left on a high with all that galactic adventure.
By Janet B on clarinet
