After a four-year hiatus, it was great to be back at Downe House this year with over 200 young musicians who set the school ‘Ablaze with Music’ as they tackled a range of pieces inspired by ‘fire’; a perfect theme given the change in the weather this weekend! If one only heard the opening notes of the first rehearsal and then the concert later that day, you would have been astonished by the progress made in just a few hours. That’s the joy of these days, it’s a rare treat to have an entire day devoted to music and that’s why the progress is so significant.

In keeping with the fire theme, the children enjoyed learning a variety of pieces: La Rejouissance (from Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks) and Vangelis’s Oscar-winning theme from Chariots of Fire were both played by the full orchestra; the string section performed an arrangement of themes from Patrick Doyle’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Downe House’s Symphony Orchestra performed the final moments of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite whilst the wind, brass and percussion sections formed the Phoenix Concert Band and played an arrangement of Katy Perry’s Firework.

It’s not just the music which makes the day so enjoyable. The hospitality of the team at Downe House is second-to-none and, although Dr Exon (their hugely inspiring and enthusiastic Director of Music) was unfortunately too ill to run the day, her team ably stepped up to the mark under the leadership of the equally inspiring Mr Gill (Head of Music Performance). Downe House’s orchestral day is, for us, the diamond standard of prep school music days; it’s the one by which all others are judged and this year’s crackled and fizzed from start to finish – the 14 lucky pupils who represented Farleigh so ably, all had their musical fires well and truly stoked.

Marcus Reeves