The chamber of music: Catch this concert by Mumbai's oldest orchestra

With their first concert of the year, The Bombay Chamber Orchestra turns to chamber music to highlight melodies and their skilled ensemble

The days have been busy at rehearsals for clarinet player and conductor Alaric Diniz. The 52-year-old has been busy in preparations for the first concert of 2025 for the city’s oldest orchestra, Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO). Keeping with the adage of starting small, and with style, the ensemble will put on a performance of chamber music featuring works by Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg and Gustav Holst tomorrow. This will mark yet another year as the orchestra moves into its 63rd year. Founded in 1962 by Jini Dinshaw (now 94-years-old), the Bombay Chamber Orchestra’s roots are interlinked with the city’s own strong tradition of Western Classical music.

Founder Jini Dinshaw at a 2024 session. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

Diniz explains that unlike the complete symphonic orchestral concerts, this performance will have a smaller ensemble. The first part of the performance will be led by guest pianist Emma Gilljam Tillu and the string quartet in Schumann’s Piano Quintet — a piece that director Ingmar Bergman famously lionised in his film, Fanny and Alexander. “It is Schumann’s only piano quintet,” Diniz points out. This complex overture is contrasted by the second half. “This has two very pretty works, if I may call them that. These are Gustav Holst’s St Paul’s Suite, and Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite,” the conductor adds.

A moment from the rehearsals

What sets the two suites apart is that they are based on sets of European folk dances. Diniz points out, “Holst wrote his suite for the school he was teaching at. It serves two purposes; firstly, as a musical work that highlights folk melodies from Britain, and secondly as an educational work for young musicians. It is very light and catchy. It consists of four pieces — jig, ostinato, intermezzo and a finale. In the finale, Holst does something very interesting. He juxtaposes the Scottish highland folk-dance rhythm with English Greensleeves [a medieval English folk tune] melody. These are different metres, and yet musical in their juxtaposition.”

Even more intricate is the Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg. A five-movement piece, Grieg composed it on the piano as a tribute to the Norwegian humanist, Ludvig Holberg. Though the pieces are inspired by Norwegian folk music and dances, Diniz explains, “These were 18th Century pieces that were written on the piano before being adapted for a string orchestra. Grieg opens with a praeludium that moves into sarabande, followed by a gavotte and concludes with a rigaudon [a fun interchange between solo violin and viola].

(From left) Edvard Grieg, Gustav Holst and Robert Schumann. Pics Courtesy/WIkimedia Commons

The choice of these three suites was defined by the decision to host a chamber concert. “It is one of the few times we host a chamber concert. It lets us showcase our skilled ensemble even in small numbers,” shares Bomi S Billimoria, timpani. The chamber concerts will be an aspect the orchestra will see more of this year.

The nature of the performance dictates that it is a more intimate session than the grandeur of an orchestra. Billimoria agrees, “There is a sensitivity and closeness to such ensemble pieces.” For Diniz, the venue also adds to such an experience. “When the audience is closer to the performers, as they are at the Experimental Theatre [NCPA], it gives the performers the sense of being among the audience,” he says.

Alaric Diniz

The intricacy of the first concert, with its many diverse pieces, is only the beginning. The veterans explain that the BCO will look at a major concert coming up in August this year. “There are plans being put in place, and we hope to have a successful year,” concludes Bilimoria.

ON March 5; 6.30 pm
AT Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point. 
LOG ON TO ncpamumbai.com; in.bookmyshow.com 
COST Rs 450 onwards (members); Rs 500 onwards (non-members)

Concert notes

Praeludium
A short piece of music that introduces a longer piece, or can stand alone. 

Gavotte
An 18th Century French folk dance, or music composed for folk dance, performed in ballrooms. 

Sarabande 
Originating in Spain in the 16th Century, it became a part of the processional dances in the French court during the 17th Century. 

Rigaudon
A sprightly and rustic 17th Century French dance that involves hopping steps. 

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