Repertoire
Repertoire is probably the most important aspect in making the orchestra enjoyable and pleasurable both for members in rehearsal and for audiences at concerts. We play everything from Mozart to Moon River, and our repertoire is a mix of light, popular classical music, film themes and medleys, and the occasional pop number chosen by the members in conjunction with our Musical Director.
A SAMPLE OF OUR REPERTOIRE
Classical
Film
Popular Music
Special Commission
Enigma Variations, Nimrod
Edward Elgar
"The Sound of Music" Medley
Richard Rodgers
"Grease" Medley
Barry Gibb
"Mamma Mia" Medley
ABBA
Something's Stirring on Godstone Green
Nick Drewe
Moon River
Henry Mancini
Four Handel Highlights
George Frideric Handel
The Liberty Bell
John Philip Sousa
Mozart's Symphony #36, First Movement
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Theme from "The Great Escape"
Elmer Bernstein
Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen
Born This Way
Lady Gaga
The Banks of Green Willow
George Butterworth
The Barber of Seville
Gioachino Rossini
The Blue Danube
Johann Strauss II
"Everything I Do I Do It for You"
Bryan Adams
Sleepers Wake
Johann Sebastian Bach
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Edvard Grieg
Romeo and Juliet Overture
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ode to Joy
Ludwig van Beethoven
The Shepherd's Hymn
Ludwig van Beethoven
"Pirates of the Caribbean" Medley
Klaus Badelt
Beneath the Surface of Things
Richard Cross
Nutcracker Suite
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphonie Fantastique, March to the Scaffold
Hector Berlioz
Sleigh Ride
Leroy Anderson
The Dam Busters March
Eric Coates
Cole Porter Classics
Cole Porter
"The Greatest Showman" Medley
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Thriller"
Michael Jackson
ABOUT OUR COMMISSIONED PIECES
Beneath the Surface of Things
For our 4th Birthday Concert, Richard Cross, a professional trombonist and conductor who has guest conducted the NDCO, composed a piece for the NDCO wind section titled, "Beneath the Surface of Things."
Beneath The Surface Of Things
For the North Downs Community Orchestra
By Richard Cross
13th January 2020
Words and meaning are in the mind of the beholder; words and music are metaphor to another, truer part of ourselves.
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There is always another layer, perhaps until either the infinite or elemental is reached: two contrasting natures, the polarised extremes of any conceivable spectrum. Is this really the endpoint?
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Music explores, evolves, uncovers, reveals. Three short themes are embedded in the piece: the first, a curiously energetic "surface" to break the silence. It serves as a sprightly veneer for themes two (a descending, arcing melodic line wrapped in more traditional Romantic harmony) and three (a folksong-like melody first heard on alto saxophone.) These two themes are both carried by and drive the music as the narrative unfolds; in a brief development, they and their fragments, against the backdrop of a rising tide of intensity, draw the music to untold depths as a raw power seizes the soundscape from within.
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Stillness, beauty and ethereal expectancy hang in the air in the music that follows... there is always another layer - Beneath The Surface Of Things.
To see other pieces that Richard has composed please visit www.turnedonmusic.com.
Something's Stirring on Godstone Green
For our 1st Birthday Concert, Nick Drewe, professional composer and arranger, composed for the NDCO a piece titled, "Something's Stirring on Godstone Green."
Something's Stirring on Godstone Green
For the North Downs Community Orchestra
By Nick Drewe
March 2017
From an early age, I have always written music and usually it has been when it was needed for a specific occasion. Such occasions have included musicals for schools, family weddings and celebrations and many pieces for pupils and choirs in schools where I have been teaching.
When asked to compose a piece for the North Downs Community Orchestra 1st Anniversary concert, I first went along to meet the members at a rehearsal in the Scout Headquarters, Endeavour, on Godstone Green. Upon getting out of my car I was immediately greeted by some stirring music drifting across the the quintessentially English Green. It was Eric Coates Dam Busters March, and I guess that initial impression largely determined the formation of my ideas for the commission!
The piece starts off with dawn breaking over a misty Godstone Green and gradually builds to a fairly sharp, incisive rhythm played by the whole orchestra, a sort of alarm call, after which the very British sounding day unfolds. The main melody and a counter melody are shared around the orchestra, the different characteristics of the various instruments representing imaginary village characters and the hustle and bustle of everyday day life around the Green. After a dramatic pause towards the end of the piece, a more stately rendition of the main theme is followed with a brief and faster coda, based on the opening material, which brings the piece to a triumphant close.
If you are looking to join a fun, welcoming group of musicians, get in touch. We would love to meet you at our next rehearsal!