Lists of what I have played
With some (I hope) helpful notes about which are the good and the awkward ones.

Click for WLO List

Click for OUO List

Wolverton Light Orchestra
has had several names over the years but started in the 30s, when it gave regular concerts in the town.  These days only a few of its members live in Wolverton as Milton Keynes has been built all around and the population of the district has increased greatly.

Since I joined in about 1980 I have played all the following music, most of which is in the orchestra's extensive library.

WLO MUSIC     Title Alphabetical , revised May2007

 Academic Festival Overture       Brahms  
 A Children's Overture  Quilter   nursery rhymes medley
  A Christmas Festival  Leroy Anderson   Carols medley - a favourite
 An American in Paris  Gershwin  Tricky syncopation. Horns play at taxis
 Andante for Flute  Mozart K 315  
  Annenpolka   J.Strauss  
 A Nutcracker Holiday    travesty of Tchaikovski
 Anvil Chorus  Verdi   
 A salute to the Big Apple   Custer (arr)  Songs from NY medley
 Auf Der Jagd    J.Strauss *  hunting polka - fast, fairly easy
 A Vaughan-Williams Christmas  Luigini   Travesty of V-W.
 Ballet Egyptien      Fletcher  One of my old favourites
 Bal Masque'     
 Barber of Seville    Rossini    
 Barcarolle (Tales of Hoffmann)  Offenbach   
 Bat,  see Die Fledermaus    
 Beauty and the Beast     Meaken   
Belle of the Ball  Leroy Anderson
Bellingrath Gardens  Ford American march with odd rhythms
Bells Across The Meadows  Keteleby  Another old favourite, seldom played now
Berceuse, Firebird Stravinski Nice to play
 Blaenwen arr Crofts Welsh hymn for tuning up
Blue Tango  Leroy Anderson  Well worn favourite with audiences
 Bolero   Ravel Needs great control.
Brazil     Gold  
Caisse Noisette  Tchaikowski
Calif of Baghdad   Boiledieu  
Calling All Workers  Coates The "Workers Playtime" sig. tune
Camelot   Lerner & Loewe
Capriol  Suite Warlock
Caractacus March   Elgar
Carmen Suite no.l  Bizet
Carmen, selection   Bizet
Carnival of the Animals, Saint Saens
Carnival Overture  Dvorak
Carols   (Hark/O Little One/It Came)etc.
Carousel Waltz, The  Rodgers
Caucasian Sketches- Procession of the Sirdar  Ippolitov Ivanov
Cavalliera Rusticana   Muscagni 
Chanson de Matin  Elgar 
Chanson de Nuit    Elgar
Chattanooga Choo-Choo  
Chorus of The Hebrew Slaves Verdi  
Christ The King Harold Nutt Written by a former conductor of ours. A regular favourite at Christmas
Christmas Rocks at the Pops Awful!
Chu Chin Chow  Fletcher/Norton 
Cinderella     Coates
Clarinet Concerto  Weber  Tricky stuff for a good clarinettist
Clog Dance (La Fille Mal Gardee) Herold Played far too often, but good
Concerto for Flute Chaminade Only did this once with visiting soloist, it's a nice piece.
Creatures of Prometheus, Ov. Beethoven
Crown Imperial     Walton Splendid. lots of brass.
Dance of the Tumblers  Rimsky Korsakov 
3 Dances from Henry VIII German  In awkward keys for us horn players.
Dances With Wolves tunes from the film.
Danny Boy(Londonderry Air)  Baynes   
Danza Delle Ore, La Gioconda.  Ponchielli    We all know the words!
Desert Song     Romberg  another show medley
Die Fledermaus overture   J.Strauss  
Diversions on a theme of Paganini 
Don Giovanni, Catalogue aria   arr. D.K-A D.K-A was the singer too.
Down Channel, Overture Rowley
Down The Mall     Belton 
Duke Ellington Medley   Ellington arr.
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik    Mozart (arr)  
Ein Morgen, Ein Mittag, Ein Abend In Wien, Von Suppe
Elizabethan Serenade   Binge  Goes on and on, and on.
Eljen Rakoczy, Hungarian March.
Enfants D'un Reve  Elgar  
English Folk Song Suite   Vaughan Williams  regular favourite. hardly need the music.
Entry of the Boyars    Halversen splendid piece should be played more
Entry of the Gladiators    Fucik 
Espana, waltz  Waldteufel
Exhumeresque = Christmas March   Arr. Mike Crofts   A try-out by Mike. not repeated
Façade, 4 Dances     Walton
Fame And Glory     Matt  
Fantasia on a Nursery Song 
Fantasia on British Sea Songs  Wood/Zalva
Fantasia On Christmas Carols  Vaughan Williams
Faust, Ballet Music   Gounoud
Fiddler on the Roof   Bock show medley
Fifth Symphony  Schubert
Five Courtly Dances, Gloriana. Britten
Fingal’s Cave  Mendelssohn   works well, not too difficult
First Day of Spring Leroy Anderson
Fireworks Suite  Handel/ arr Stone a bit high for the horns but good
Four Dances from Facade   Wa Iton  excellent piece
Frolic for Trombones what it says on the tin!
From Meadow to Mayfair  Coates
Gabriel's Oboe   Morricone  
God Save The King   Elgar arr.   3&4  
Gold and Silver Waltz  Lehar   
Gondoliers, The  Sullivan
 Gopak   Moussorgski  
Go West     Ford
Granada    arr. Sayre 
Grasshoppers' Dance    Bucalossi  from the past - not played for years
Hallelujah  Handel/Prout        arr. Binding  
Harry Potter & the chamber of Secrets  John Williams
Have Yourself a Merry Little Xmas. Martin
H.M.S.Pinafore  Sullivan   
Holiday Waltzes Phillippe
Humoreske    Dvorak
Hungarian March   Berlioz  
I’ll Be There For You Cerulli  
Im Krapfenwald (Cuckoo Polka)   J.Strauss   
 In A Persian Market      Keteleby  
In A Monastery Garden Keteleby
In Malaga, Spanish Suite   Curzon
In the Steppes of Central Asia Borodin   A favourite of mine.
Iolanthe, Overture  Sullivan Sullivan's best, probably.
Jamaican Rumba  Benjamin 
James Bond Theme Arr Cerulli   
Jerusalem   Parry / Elgar
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring    J.S..Bach 
Karelia Suite  Sibelius
Karneval/Carnival Ov. Dvorak
King's Rhapsody  Novello
 Kismet    Forrest, based on Borodin 
Kriegsmarch der Priester,  Mendelssohn 
L'Arlesienne, suite,      No1.  Bizet
      ditto                        No.2     Bizet
La Calinda    Delius  
La Cenerentola  excerpt   arr D.K-Ashmore
La Ciquantaine  Gabriel Marie
Land of the Mountain and the Flood  McCunn A great piece we should play often
Largo    Handel
Le Cid       Massenet
Le Roi S'Amuse  Delibes
Les Miserables G.M.Schomberg
Les Patineurs  Waldteufel  
Light Cavalry Overture   von Suppe 
London Suite Coates  
Love Changes Everything
Macarthur Park   Webb
March, Jazz Suite                        Schostakovitch Not difficult and very effective
March to the Scaffold    Berlioz
Marriage of Figaro Ov.   Mozart 
Mary Poppins   Sherman from the film music
Masquerade Waltz    Khachachurian
Melody On The Move   Richardson forgettable
Merrie England    German  
Mikado, The   Sullivan boring unless you know the songs from the show
Military Symphony 11   Haydn
Merrymakers, The. Ov.  Coates
Miss Saigon   Schonber Show medley. Some sudden changes of tempo/mood
Misty     arr Sayre  
Montmartre March    Wood
Moon River  Mancini  
My Fair Lady    Loewe  
Nabucco, Overture       Verdi
Nessun Dorma   Verdi 
Night and Day   Cole Porter
Nutcracker Tchaikovski arranged, not the original
Oberon, Overture  von Weber scary moment for horn at the start but good piece
Occasional Overture  Handel 
Oklahomah !  Rodgers yet another show medley
Orphee aux Enfers  Offenbach     used to be a favourite
Ouverture de Demophon  J.C.Vogel
 Pavanne          Faure  
Peer Gynt Suite 1   Grieg
Perpetuum Mobile     Winter a favourite from 50 years ago
Peter and the Wolf Prokoviev, arr Swift    much abridged version
Petite Suite de Concert     Coleridge Taylor
Pique Dame   Von Suppe  tunes from "The Queen of Spades"
Pirates of Penzance Ov.  Sullivan  
Pineapple Poll   Sullivan arr. Sullivan improved for a ballet. some tricky moments
Plymouth Hoe   Ansell   rousing evocation of the sea
Poet and Peasant Ov.
Pomp & Circumstance, No1+2  Elgar    
Pomp & Cicumstance No4.   Elgar 
Pomp & Circumstance no.5 Elgar 
Portrait of a Flirt  Farnon  
Prayer for Peace
Procession of the Sirdar    Ippolitov-Ivanov
Puffin' Billy jolly piece, not too hard
Radetsky March      J.Strauss    regular favourite
Rosamunde (entr'acte)   Schubert  
RAF March Past  Walford Davies  
Robin Hood     Curzon
Rogers & Hart selection Pemberton arr. 
Rule Britannia
St Anthony Chorale, Variations on,   Brahms
 Sailing By     Binge the shipping forecast music. effective
Saints (When the -)   arr. M.Crofts
Salut D'Amour     Elgar
Sandpaper Ballet   Leroy Anderson very much a period piece - 1930?
Schwanda The Bagpiper, Polka. Weinburger   
Scottish Dances    Alwyn
Sea Songs, quick March  Vaughan Williams  regular favourite. not too difficult but effective
Send In The Clowns    Sondheim
Serenade for Jean     Bourgois
Shepherd 's Hey   Grainger
Show Boat, selection  Kern   Show selection - old man river etc.
Sicilienne    Faure
Skaters Waltz     Strauss
Slavisch Tanze   Dvorak op46
Sleepers Awake   Bach arr.
Sleeping Beauty     Tchaikovski
Sleigh Ride     Leroy Anderson  a Christmas regular
Schneewaltzer    arr. D.K-Ashmore
Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs   Churchill
Soirees Musicales     Rossini/Britten   would like to play this again
Solitaire     arr Crofts 
Sounds of Scotland          arr. Bullock
South Pacific, selection    Rodgers    
Springtime Suite    Coates  Coates at his best
Stars and Stripes Forever   Sousa   
State Occasion   Farnon
Suite Algerienne  Saint Saens
Summer Days   Coates   Another nice Coates piece
Summer Time   Gershwin
Surprise Symphony  Haydn
Symphony 4,  The Clock    Haydn  
Symphony 5    Schubert  
Symphony 6, in G major, The Surprise   Haydn
Symphony 8  , 1st mvt.   Dvorak
Symphony 40   Mozart
Tales From The Vienna Woods.  J. Strauss
Tancredi, Overture   Rossini  
Tannhauser  Overture   Wagner needs a bigger orchestra
The Arcadians, Overture     Monckton 
The Banks of Green Willow  Butterworth couple of tricky horn entries. atmospheric piece
The Bartered Bride Ov.    Smetana
The Boulevardier    Curzon
The Carousel Waltz   Rodgers music from the film
The Clock (Symphony  No. 4)   Haydn
Trumpet Tune and Air  Purcell show piece for trumpet
The Blue Danube  J. Strauss   scary horn part at start - nice to play
The Dam Busters  Coates   regular favourite
The Diplomat, March  Sousa
The Drummer's Birthday  Smith not played this in 20 years
The Girl With the Flaxen Hair  Ravel (arr Goldsmith)  best left to a solo cello
The Gordian Knot Untied  Purcell arr. Holst  good but not v. suitable for this orchestra
The Greatest Love Of All
The King And I      Rodgers  Another favourite show medley.
The Little drummer Boy  arr.  D.K-Ashmore
The Magic Flute, Ov. Mozart several versions, but they all seem to fit together.
The Marriage of Figaro, Ov. Mozart
The Merrymakers, Ov.  Coates
The Merry Widow Lehar
The Merry Wives of Windsor Nicolai
The Mikado   Sullivan can be boring
The Moldau (Vltava)     Smetana   great piece.
The Parade of the Tin Soldiers  Jessel once a radio favourite in the 1940s
The Pink Panther best avoided
The Sleigh Ride    Mozart we seem to have lost the music
The Syncopated Clock  Leroy Anderson 
The Sound of Music   Rodgers  
The Thievish Magpie Overture  Rossini    good to play
The Three Elizabeths   Coates     dated
The Walk to The Paradise Garden   Delius not an easy piece
The Wand of  Youth  Suite  Elgar 
The Washington Post    Sousa  rousing.
The Water Music,(suite )  Handel, arr Harty   high horn parts
The Wedding of the Rose   Jessel  
The Wee McGregor    Amers a "characteristic piece", very scottish
Three Dale Dances    Wood 
Three Dances from Henry VIII  German Awkward keys for the horns.
Three Irish Pictures  Ansell 
Thunder & Lightning, Polka  J.Strauss    
Thunderbirds theme   Gray
Toccata       Frescobaldi, arr.Kindler 
Trisch Trasch    J. Strauss polka. typical Strauss
Troika   Prokoviev 
Trumpet Concerto   Haydn  
Ungarische Tanze   1,3,10   Brahms   not all in friendly keys for horns. fine music
ditto          5,6,7    Brahms  ditto
Unter Donner & Blitzen    J.Strauss 
Valdres March    Hanssen deserves more playing.
Valse des Fleurs    Tchaikovski
Viennese Memories of Lehar  H.Hall
Waltz from Jazz Suite no 1   Schostakovitch Nice to play
Wassail   Bailey
Westminster Waltz, The Farnon 
White Christmas     arr. M. Crofts
William Tell, Overture    Rossini     Usually only play the well-known bit
Wine, Woman and Song   J.Strauss
Winter Wonderland  Custer arr.  
Zadock The Priest   Handel
Zampa    Herold  
Zigeunerbaron (Overture) J.Strauss  from "The Gypsy Baron" light opera
     

 

 

 

 

The Open University Orchestra
has now been playing for about 2 years. In that time we have played all the pieces listed, most of them in free lunchtime concerts at the O.U.

As the students are far away, "distance learning" being the O.U.s reason to exist, this orchestra consists of a mix of staff and a few friends from outside the University. It's a full symphony orchestra when all are present, but as rehearsals take place during Friday lunchtimes, various people are missing at different times on business.

 

OPEN UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA MUSIC LIST

 

In Alphabetical Order                                           (numbers refer to my filing system only)

 

   9     Christmas carols Goodmusic set 1   
 10  Christmas carols Goodmusic set 2  
 19  Classical Symphony op.25   Prokofiev  Great piece, not as difficult as it sounds
 18  Czech Suite  Dvorak  was in our first concert.
 23  Die Zauberflöte, overture.  Mozart  Magic!
 17  Drum Roll Symphony, No.103  Haydn  
 7  Fantasia on Christmas Carols   Vaughan-Williams  With the OU choir and excellent soloist David Kirby-Ashmore, lovely piece
28  Finlandia Sibelius Preparing for our next concert
 27  Il Barbiere Di Siviglia , Overture   Rossini  
 6   Invocation for a New City  Taylor  rarity written at the inception of Milton Keynes
 24  Joyeuse March   Chabrier  
 25  La Cenerentola, overture  Rossini  Great crescendos!
 3  London (every day) suite   Coates  
15 On Hearing The First Cuckoo in Spring Delius difficult, atmospheric
22  Pavane  Faure
16 Pavane Pour une Infante Defunte Ravel "It's the infanta that's dead, not the Pavane!"
8 Piano concerto No. 3  Beethoven at our very first concert. a good start!
29 Piano Concerto  Grieg Preparing for our next concert
26 Pomp and Circumstance March No.2 Elgar
14 Summer Night on the River  Delius only tried this once
13 1st  Symphony Beethoven
12  2nd Symphony  Beethoven
4 Symphony in C minor  Alice Mary Smith Interesting rarity. The first English woman to write a Symphony, romantic before Mendelssohn
5 Tannhaüser, grand March  Wagner, arr. Winter
1  The Banks of Green Willow Butterworth Very atmospheric, lovely harp/flute duet
11 The Hebrides Mendelssohn A treat to play
21 The Impressario, overture  Mozart
2  The Swan Lake  Tchaikovski, arr. Winter
20   Vocalise Rachmaninov hard to get the timing right
       

 

Top of Page