Performing Debussy premieres

Later this month Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra will perform world premieres of works by Debussy at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. Sam Warner, a 3rd-year student and Principal Cellist, looks ahead to the concert…

“During my seven years playing in an orchestra, the only French orchestral repertoire from the turn of the 20th-century I’ve had the opportunity to play is Ravel’s Boléro. I was thrilled to learn that as part of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s ‘City of Light’ concert series happening over the country, the University Symphony Orchestra will, once again, be broadening my orchestral experience.

We will be ending the Cardiff festival with the well-loved Debussy Nocturnes and Ravel’s La Valse. In addition to this, we will be playing world premieres of two of Debussy’s works he left unfinished (No-Ja-Li and L’Histoire de Tristan), as well as the UK premiere of ‘Poèmes intimes’ by André Jolivet.

This will be a huge learning curve for me as a cellist and a musician. Not only will we be performing these works in St. David’s Hall but this weekend the Orchestra will also be recording these three premieres, along with a piece by one of our own composition lecturers, Dr Robert Fokkens.

This will be the second CD the Orchestra has released, hopefully there will be many more in years to come! 

Our concerts website has more information on the St David’s Hall concert. You can also visit the School’s website to learn more about our involvement in the Philharmonia Orchestra’s City of Light: Paris 1900-1950 festival.