Youth Intermediate Orchestra

During the Autumn half-term 2026, I had the opportunity to play in an orchestra of 80 people for the first time. I had an awesome experience as one of the few viola players in the orchestra. We performed Mahler‘s ’Ging heut Morgen übers Feld’ and Gershwin’s ‘Strike up the Band’.

The orchestra rehearsed over two days, with each day starting at 09:15 and finishing at 17:00. By 16.40 on day two, both pieces were ready to perform at a decent standard. Considering that two days is not a generous amount of time to learn 2 pieces alongside 80 other people we did a fabulous job.

Gustav Mahler was a composer who lived in the late 19th century to early 20th century; during the romantic period. ‘Ging heut Morgen übers Feld’ was written between 1883 and 1885 and translates to ‘I Went this Morning Over the Field’.

Gershwin was a more modern composer of the 20th century. He wrote the music for the musical ’Strike up the Band’. Unfortunately for him, ‘Strike up the Band’ was released within the same year that ‘The Wizard of Oz’ meaning that neither the movie nor his music gained much attention.

Here are the links for the concert videos:

Ging heut Morgen übers Feld – Gustav Mahler – https://youtu.be/7byg6EuH9GY

Strike Up the Band – George & Ira Gershwin (arr. J. Whitney) – https://youtu.be/gr7xwlZtEj4

Nicholas (year 10)