Class - 16th October

Large ensemble pieces:

• 'Toy Symphony' by Leopold Mozart
• ''Sinfonia' & 'Chorale' from 'Christmas Oratorio' by J. S. Bach
• 'Troika' from 'Lieutenant Kije' by Prokofiev

Small group items:

• 'Maya' by Ian Clarke - Heather, Helen & Angela
• 'Trio Op. 87' by Beethoven - Emily, Kath & Polly
• 'Dance Suite' by Michael Regan - Alison, Penny, Judy & Diana
• 'Summertime' from 'Porgy & Bess' by Gershwin (Arr. H. Brammer) - Annabel, Edward, Theresa, Nicola, John, Mike & Imogen

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 - 28th February

Our first joint rehearsal with the Songbyrds was a huge success - the two joint pieces ('Cantique de Jean Racine' & 'I feel pretty') sounded great together! Having a conductor was a new experience for some members of the Broken Consort...and we're all really looking forward to our next joint rehearsal when hopefully everyone will be there. We still found some time to whizz through our other large ensemble pieces, and even managed to get some of the other concert pieces rehearsed too!

Small group items:

• 'Promenade - Walking the Dog' by Gershwin (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Alison, Polly, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• Trio Sonata in F by Telemann - George, Penny, Margaret & Imogen
• 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' by Handel & 'Carnival of the Animals' by Saint-Saens (Arr. J van der Goot) - Maureen, Kath, John, Rod, Joan & Angela

Class - 7th February

We were still looking a little bit sparse in places at last week's rehearsal, especially in the back row! Anyway, we were still able to make good progress in our large ensemble pieces.

Small group items:

• 'Promenade - Walking the Dog' from 'Shall We Dance?' by Gershwin (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Alison, Polly, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• Quintet in D Minor by Keller - Imogen, Diana, Kath, John, Rod & Angela
• Trio Sonata in F Major by Telemann - George, Penny & Joan

Class & AGM - 8th November

We were at full capacity at last week's class...we even had another prospective new member (Maureen on treble recorder) too! So, we were able to make good progress with our full group pieces...and also managed to whizz through lots of the small ensemble items for next month's concert before a record-breaking AGM - all done in 15 minutes...perhaps aided by some yummy belgium chocolates!

Small group items:

• 'Kegelstatt Trio' by Mozart - Helen, Polly & Angela
• 'Five Gershwin Melodies for Four Woodwinds' (Arr. Denwood ) - Heather, Diana, Theresa & Mike
• 'Sarabande' from 'Suite 11' by Handel - Judy, George, Maureen, Dermot, Kath, John & Mike
•  Sonata in F major by Schickhardt - Heather, Imogen, Annabel & Joan
• 'Plaisir d'amour' by Martini - Penny, Margaret & Imogen

Class - 20th September

We had our first class of the term on Thursday...we started work on a new piece 'Les Patineurs' (The Skaters) by Waldteufel...and welcomed a potential new member...John on violin. 'Les Patineurs' skated along nicely...despite the tricky changes of key and numerous repeats...and we didn't scare John off...so all in all it was a very successful evening!

Small group items:

• 'Five Gershwin Melodies for Four Woodwinds' (Arr. Denwood ) - Heather, Diana, Theresa & Mike
•  Sonata for Four Treble Recorders by Paisible - George, Penny, Judy, John, Margaret & Joan
• 'Kegelstatt Trio' by Mozart - Helen, Polly & Angela

Class - 7th July

There was a touch of deja vu about this evening's class...the final rehearsal before next week's concert. We even had a small audience for our 'dress rehearsal', of family members and one very confused gentleman who didn't seem to know why he was there! They seemed to enjoy our large ensemble items, and we now know that if we want louder applause, we need to play faster!

Small group items:

• 'General Radetsky goes Cuckoo' by Michaelson - Heather, Annie, Helen & Mike
• Telemann Trio Sonata in F Major - George, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• 'Trois Duos de Mendelssohn et Lachner' - Judy, Diana & Angela
• 'Summertime' by George Gershwin - Penny, George, Annabel, Kath, Theresa, Polly, Mike, Margaret & Joan
• Trio Sonata in D Minor by Quantz - Annie, Annabel, Margaret & Joan
• 'Shimmering Flutes' by John Cacavas - Annie, Judy, Penny & Imogen
• Trio Sonata in G Major by C.P. E. Bach - Diana, Kath & Imogen
• 'Salut d'Amour' by Elgar - Penny, Theresa & Mike
• 'Pavane pour une infante defunte' by Ravel - Heather, Polly & Angela
• Telemann Trio Sonata in D Minor - George, Judy & Angela

Phew! I think that must be a record for the most number of pieces rehearsed in one class!

Class - 30th June

It was good to be back nearly up to full strength last night, and our large ensemble pieces are sounding good, even though we'd picked up some speed in the 'Marriage of Figaro' which took a few people by surprise! With only a couple more classes before our concert, we had a 'whistle-stop' tour through (nearly) all the other concert items too...a dress rehearsal for all the room & personnel changes in next week's final rehearsal!

Small group items:

• 'General Radetsky goes Cuckoo' by Michaelson - Heather, Annie, Helen & Mike
• Telemann Trio Sonata in F Major - George, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• 'Trois Duos de Mendelssohn et Lachner' - Judy, Diana & Angela (with substitutions of Heather & George!)
• 'Summertime' by George Gershwin - Penny, George, Annabel, Kath, Theresa, Mike, Margaret & Joan
• Trio Sonata in D Minor by Quantz - Annie, Annabel, Margaret & Joan
• 'Shimmering Flutes' by John Cacavas - Annie, Judy, Penny & Imogen
• Trio Sonata in G Major by C.P. E. Bach - Diana, Kath & Imogen
• 'Salut d'Amour' by Elgar - Penny, Theresa & Mike

The First Class!

We had the first class in our new home this evening...and, although we were somewhat diminished in number, I think that we can say that it was successful!

We began with one of the large ensemble pieces that we'll be working on this term, 'Pictures at an Exhibition' (by Mussorgsky). We're only going to be doing a few of the 'Pictures', and started with the 'Promenade' (with it's challenging changes in time signatures), before braving the 5 sharps (or 5 flats for the clarinets) of 'The Old Castle'! We will also be tackling 'The Great Gate of Kiev'...but that's still work in progress!

This evening's small group items were:

• J. C. Bach Quintet in A (Op. 11 No. 5) - Heather, Annabel, Diana, Helen, Polly & Angela
• Five Gershwin Melodies for Four Woodwinds - Imogen, Penny, Annie, Theresa & Mike 

We're pleased to report that the accoustics of the Church are great - it's just a shame we'll have to hold our concerts elsewhere.

Looking forward to next week!