RSNO Beethoven 7 Usher Hall Edinburgh 7th November 2025 Review
RSNO Beethoven 7 at the Usher Hall tonight was the final performance in a programme of music that also included -
Cheryl Frances-Hoad - You Have to be Realistic About a Perfect Day (World Premiere)
Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel
Mendelssohn - Overture to Son and Stranger
The opening work, “You Have to be Realistic About a Perfect Day” was specially commissioned by the RSNO to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the RSNO Changed Voices choir and was composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad with words by Librettist Kate Wakeling.
Changed Voices is a satellite of the RSNO Youth Chorus for boys whose voices are changing, and one of its main purposes is to carefully guide the members through this very obvious change in their vocals. Other goals of the choir are to help its members explore through carefully chosen vocal selections and singing techniques the new ranges that their voices are moving into whilst also maintaining their interest in staying with the RSNO as choir singers.
Reflecting these changes through her music was one of the goals of Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Another was not missing the opportunity to write an “orchestral sunrise” with the RSNO. The words, views, and thoughts of this music are actually those of members of the choir itself and assembling them together from talking with the “Changed Voices” members must have been a little bit like assembling a jigsaw puzzle for Kate Wakeling.
As if to highlight to the choir just what mature male vocals can achieve was the next work performed with Andreas Landin (Baritone) exploring what he could do with the 9 song cycle that makes up Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Songs of Travel”. It is easy to see how audiences of the time reacted so warmly to all of these words and music in the early 1900s. Not only do you have the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, but you could, with a piano available (which so many houses had at the time), create your own performance at home. Of course getting a full orchestra like the RSNO into your living room would have been a lot more of a challenge.
Opening the second half of tonight’s musical programme was a 6 minute overture from Felix Mendelssohn – “Overture to Son and Stranger”. I have to admit that this is a work that I have not heard until now, and that is probably because it was written for his parents’ silver wedding anniversary and not published until after his death. A short work it may be, but it is pure Mendelssohn and a joy to listen to.
The final and title piece of this evening’s music, Beethoven Symphony No 7 (1813) probably needed no introduction to many people in the audience tonight. With its constantly repeating crescendos and powerful dynamic movements, this work probably shocked more than a few people in its day as for the most part this is not music to dance to. Instead, there is this amazing contrast of dark and light tones which at times are almost fighting with each other. This is in places a musical struggle, that I can see easily reflected in Beethoven’s personal life at the time as he was struggling with coming to terms with not only his own poor health, but his hearing loss.
This was an opportunity for conductor Thomas Søndergård and the RSNO to fully explore Beethoven’s 7th symphony, a work that still sounds fresh, dynamic, and powerful over 200 years since its creation. Neither missed that opportunity tonight.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Cheryl Frances-Hoad - You Have to be Realistic About a Perfect Day (World Premiere)
Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel
Mendelssohn - Overture to Son and Stranger
The opening work, “You Have to be Realistic About a Perfect Day” was specially commissioned by the RSNO to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the RSNO Changed Voices choir and was composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad with words by Librettist Kate Wakeling.
Changed Voices is a satellite of the RSNO Youth Chorus for boys whose voices are changing, and one of its main purposes is to carefully guide the members through this very obvious change in their vocals. Other goals of the choir are to help its members explore through carefully chosen vocal selections and singing techniques the new ranges that their voices are moving into whilst also maintaining their interest in staying with the RSNO as choir singers.
Reflecting these changes through her music was one of the goals of Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Another was not missing the opportunity to write an “orchestral sunrise” with the RSNO. The words, views, and thoughts of this music are actually those of members of the choir itself and assembling them together from talking with the “Changed Voices” members must have been a little bit like assembling a jigsaw puzzle for Kate Wakeling.
As if to highlight to the choir just what mature male vocals can achieve was the next work performed with Andreas Landin (Baritone) exploring what he could do with the 9 song cycle that makes up Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Songs of Travel”. It is easy to see how audiences of the time reacted so warmly to all of these words and music in the early 1900s. Not only do you have the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, but you could, with a piano available (which so many houses had at the time), create your own performance at home. Of course getting a full orchestra like the RSNO into your living room would have been a lot more of a challenge.
Opening the second half of tonight’s musical programme was a 6 minute overture from Felix Mendelssohn – “Overture to Son and Stranger”. I have to admit that this is a work that I have not heard until now, and that is probably because it was written for his parents’ silver wedding anniversary and not published until after his death. A short work it may be, but it is pure Mendelssohn and a joy to listen to.
The final and title piece of this evening’s music, Beethoven Symphony No 7 (1813) probably needed no introduction to many people in the audience tonight. With its constantly repeating crescendos and powerful dynamic movements, this work probably shocked more than a few people in its day as for the most part this is not music to dance to. Instead, there is this amazing contrast of dark and light tones which at times are almost fighting with each other. This is in places a musical struggle, that I can see easily reflected in Beethoven’s personal life at the time as he was struggling with coming to terms with not only his own poor health, but his hearing loss.
This was an opportunity for conductor Thomas Søndergård and the RSNO to fully explore Beethoven’s 7th symphony, a work that still sounds fresh, dynamic, and powerful over 200 years since its creation. Neither missed that opportunity tonight.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Please note that unless requested by performers/pr/venues that this website no longer uses the "star rating" system on reviews.