Local solicitor swaps law books for conductor’s baton

Antony Brannick

Local solicitor Antony Brannick, a partner at Molesworths Bright Clegg, Solicitors of Octagon House Rochdale, will be exchanging his law books for the conductor’s baton this weekend when he conducts a concert to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Todmorden Choral Society and Orchestra under Antony’s leadership will be joined by a total of seven soloists.

The main work performed will be Mozart’s Requiem and will feature four talented singers from the Royal Northern College of Music.

The Requiem was left unfinished at the composer’s death and mystery and intrigue surround the work. It is known that the work was commissioned by a wealthy patron who refused to reveal his identity and who communicated with the composer through an agent. As this person only paid unannounced visits to Mozart, often at night, the feverish Mozart is said to have become obsessed with the work, thinking perhaps that he was composing his own requiem. He was assisted by his pupil Sussmayr who was asked to complete the work after Mozart’s death.

Whilst we may never know the whole story, the work is considered to be one of the greatest in the choral repertoire. The orchestration is sombre with strings joined by clarinets, bassoons, trombones, trumpets and timpani. The choral writing is exceptionally fine with wonderful choruses in addition to the solo singers.

In the first half of the concert, Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto is being performed with local soloists Laura Manship (flute), Martyn Jackson (violin) and Daniel Bath (harpsichord). This is almost a full blown keyboard concerto in disguise rather than a triple concerto particularly in the opening movement. The three soloists do however share the limelight in the wistful slow movement.

The concert, supported financially by Molesworths Bright Clegg Solicitors, takes place at Todmorden Town Hall on Sunday 30 April 2006 at 7.30pm. Tickets can be obtained from the Information Office on Burnley Road, Todmorden (opposite the Town Hall) and Tel: 01706 81818 or from Antony Brannick Tel: 01706 356666 Email: abrannick@molesworths.co.uk