Class - 18th April

We had our first rehearsal of the new term last night...so that meant new music...or rather 'old' music as we started with some pieces from 'Soirees Musicales' by Rossini/Britten that we're 're-visiting' in honour of the centenary of Britten's birth. We shall also be celebrating a bicentenary...with some Wagner...and...after a quick vote last night...looking again at some J. S. Bach this term.

Small group items:

• Sonata in C by Gottfried Keller - George, Annie, Judy, Imogen, Maureen, Kath, Rod, Annabel, John, Diana & Joan
• 'Gavotte & Minuet' from 'Bach for Three' (Arr. Neil Butterworth) - Theresa, Nicola & Anya
• 'Variations on 'La ci darem la mano' from Mozart's 'Don Giovani'' by Beethoven - Heather, Helen & Mike
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Telemann - Alison, Polly, Margaret & Angela

Some of the videos from our concert last term have now found their way on to our YouTube Channel...we can now be experienced in HD! I'd like to say a huge thank you to Stephen for filming and editing the videos!

Concert - March 21st

Wow - what a fabulous evening we had! We had probably our largest audience to date to perform to...no doubt strengthened by the Songbyrds' supporters, but we weren't daunted, and everybody played their best. We thoroughly enjoyed performing with the Songbyrds...so I'm sure there'll be another collaboration in the future...we just need to think of some suitable pieces!

Here's what we played:

 

Programme

'Slavonic Dance No. 8' - Dvorak (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Cantique de Jean Racine' – Faure (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort & The Songbyrds

Directed by Ben Cox

'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' from Cantata No. 147 - J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)

Heather Loebl (Flute); Imogen Locke, Maureen Snell (Treble Recorders); Margaret Willson ('Cello); & Angela Ayton (Harpsichord)

'Promenade – Walking the Dog' – Gershwin (Arr. H. Brammer)

Heather Loebl, Alison Shaw (Flutes); Polly Kaufmann (Oboe); Helen Brammer, Theresa Hitching (Clarinets); & Mike Winterburn (Bassoon)

'Rondeau' from 'Abdelazer' – Purcell (Arr. H. Brammer)

Penny Layland, Judy Skelton (Flutes); Annabel Crowe (Oboe); Theresa Hitching, Anya Sitaram, Nicola Thompson (Clarinets); Kath Russell, John Marshall, Rod Lackey(Violins); Mike Winterburn (Bassoon); & Diana Locke (Double Bass)

'Sound of Silence' – Simon & Garfunkel
'Scarborough Fair' - Trad.
'El Condor Pasa' - Simon & Garfunkel
'Unexpressed' – John Bucchino

The Songbyrds

Directed by Ben Cox

'Affettuoso & Vivace' from Trio Sonata in F – Telemann

Imogen Locke (Treble Recorder); Penny Layland (Flute); Margaret Willson ('Cello); & Maureen Snell (Harpsichord)

'Andante & Rondo' – Doppler

Heather Loebl, Helen Brammer (Flutes); & Angela Ayton (Piano)

'The Ashokan Farewell' – Jay Ungar (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'I Feel Pretty' from 'West Side Story' – Bernstein (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort & The Songbyrds

Directed by Ben Cox

Of course there was an 'after party'...again hosted by Angela & Mike (thank you!) where much delicious food (and drink) was enjoyed! The concert was filmed...not by me this time...and the videos will be appearing on our YouTube channel at some point, so I'll let you know when they're there.

Class - 14th March

Ok, it was all systems go...it was our last chance to rehearse our concert pieces, and we had a deadline...the Songbyrds were arriving at 8.30pm...so we had to whizz through everything else before they arrived! Our joint pieces with the Songyrds sounded great - it was good to know that we hadn't forgotten all the things we talked about the last time!

Small group items:

• 'Rondeau' from 'Abdelazer' by Purcell (Arr. H. Brammer) - Penny, Judy, Theresa, Nicola, Mike, Kath, John & Rod 
• 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' by Bach (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Imogen, Maureen, Margaret & Angela
• 'Sentimental Journey' by Brown, Green & Homer & 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' by Handel (Arr. van der Goot) - Alison, Dermot, Polly & Helen
• 'Promenade - Walking the Dog' by Gershwin (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Alison, Polly, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• Trio Sonata in F Major by Telemann - Penny, Imogen, Margaret & Maureen
• 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' by Handel & 'Fiddler on the Roof by Harnick & Bock (Arr. van der Goot) - Annabel, Dermot, Nicola, Kath, John, Rod, Diana & Angela

Class - 7th March

We had quite a busy evening...not long to go before the concert so we needed to get through most of our concert pieces, as next week we'll be spending half of our rehearsal with the Songbyrds. 

Small group items:

• 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' by Bach (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Imogen, Maureen, Margaret & Angela
• Schumann Flute Trios (Arr. Eileen Clews) - Alison, Penny & Judy
• 'Sarabande & Gavotte' from 'Holberg's Time by Grieg (Arr. H. Brammer) - Annabel, Theresa, Kath, John, Rod & Polly)

Long Time No See!

Phew! So sorry it's been such a long time since the last post on here - I've been experiencing some 'technical difficulties'! They are still not fully resolved, but I have found a way around the problem, and will now be posting on here as 'Broken Consort' rather than 'Helen', as Mr Blogger seems to have taken a dislike to me!

Now that I am able to publish once again, I shall be adding the missing posts and updating the 'Term Dates' and 'Committee' pages as soon as I can.

Please bear with me - there's rather a lot to catch up on!

Oh, and due the increasing number of spam comments this blog seems to be attracting, we shall no longer be allowing 'anonymous' comments on this blog.