Class - 15th January

Large ensemble pieces:

• 'Panis Angelicus' by Cesar Franck (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'St. Paul's Suite' by Gustav Holst (Arr. H. Brammer)

Small group items:

• 'Trio Op. 87' by Beethoven - Emily, Kath & Polly
• 'Countryside' by Keith Amos - Heather, Alison, Penny, Judy & Helen
• 'Trio Sonata in D Minor' by Boismortier - Diana, Mike & Imogen
• 'Santis' by Chris Barron (Arr. H. Brammer) - Maureen, Theresa, Nicola, Rod, John & Angela

Class - 2nd 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:

• 'Serenade for Seven' by Ronald Hanmer - Alison, Lucy, Annabel, Helen, Theresa, Nicola & Mike
• Trio Op. 87 by Beethoven - Emily, Kath & Polly
• Sonata in D minor by Boismortier - Heather, Diana, Rod, Edward, John & Angela
• 'A Spring Rondo' by Mozart (Arr. A. Collins) - Penny, Judy & Imogen

Class - 1st November

Well...I didn't expect to spend the whole evening sat at a piano, but as we were (almost) pianist-less at last Thursday's class, that's what happened! Despite my best efforts to distract everyone with my piano playing...(well I was reading the parts off the score...with many, many pages!)...we managed to rehearse everthing, although it did sound rather 'empty' in places, as we were missing rather a lot of players.

Small group items:

• Boismortier Sonata in D minor & Corelli 'Air & Dance' - Penny, John, Theresa, Dermot & Helen
• J. C. Bach Quintet in C major - Heather, Judy, Kath, Polly, Margaret & Imogen

In other news...it's our AGM during the next class.

Class - 4th October

Oops...just realised that I hadn't written about last Thursday's class!

We carried on working 'Les Patineurs' and the 'Tango Ballad'...although we were a couple of members down - I knew it was too good to last! There should be some more new music for the next class...

Small group items:

• Trio Sonata in G minor by Corelli - Kath, John, Theresa, Mike & Joan
• Sonata da camera in Bb major by Janitsch - George, Imogen, Judy, Maragret & Angela
• Concerti for Five Flutes by Boismortier - Heather, Penny, Diana, Polly & Helen

Class - 21st June

We worked hard on our large ensemble pieces again last night...although we've still not managed to have a rehearsal with everyone present. They've all improved greatly from our first readings - it was even remarked that our 'Olympic Fanfare & Theme' was "rather stirring in places"!

Small group items:

• 'Prelude & Fugue' (Book 1, No. 24) by J. S. Bach - Judy, Diana & Mike
• Sonata in Bb major by Janitsch - Penny, Annabel, Polly & Imogen
• Sonata in D minor by Boismortier - George, Kath, Theresa & Joan
• 'Valse Harmonique' by Simon Ballard* - Heather, Helen & Angela

*See this link for information on Simon Ballard

Class - 17th May

We weren't in our usual rehearsal venue this week. Instead, we were split between two of our members' houses...which meant that we were unable to rehearse as a whole group, but that didn't mean that we were slacking:

At Angela & Mikes:

• Cocerto in C by Vivaldi - Heather, Theresa, Polly, Mike & Angela
• 'Minuet' from Divertimento No. 3 by Mozart - Polly, Theresa & Mike
• 'Aria' by Ibert; 'Valse Harmonique' by Simon Ballard; & 'Tarentelle' by Gaubert - Heather, Helen & Angela

At Kath's:

• Sonata by Marcello - Judy, Diana, Kath, Margaret & Joan
• 'Mandoline' by Debussy; 'Two Cuban Dances' by Cervantes; 'Sailor's Hornpipe' by Wyver; and 'The Swan' by Saint-Saens - Penny, Dermot & Imogen
• Trio Sonata in C minor by Quantz - Penny, Diana, Margaret & Imogen
• Sonata in D minor by Boismortier - Judy, Kath, Dermot & Joan  

Class - 15th March

Last night's class was the last rehearsal before our concert next week...so we were busy, busy, busy! As well as rehearsing all of our small group pieces, I filmed our large group items for our Youtube channel...although I had a bit of a fail with that...my camera turned itself off, so I didn't get everything, so will have to record the rest, along with the chamber pieces, at the concert.

Small group items:

• 'Four Old Tunes' by Gordon Jacob - Heather, Annabel, Theresa & Mike
• Telemann Concerto in D minor - Emily, Kath, Polly, Margaret & Angela
• Quintet in F by Pepusch - Judy, Penny, George, Diana & Imogen
• Telemann Trio Sonata in G minor - Imogen, Diana, Margaret & Joan
• 'Scherzo & Trio in G minor' by Schubert - Heather, Penny, Polly, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• Haydn 'London Trio No. 1' - Heather, Judy & Margaret
• Boismortier Quartet in A minor - George, Emily, Kath & Angela

Class - 23rd February

We've had an interesting evening. When we arrived at the Church, our usual entrance displayed a sign stating it was closed...no problem...we have the key...but no...it was bolted on the inside...thankfully, the other door, (which is usually bolted) was not, so we were able to get in. Upon entering the building, it became obvious why the door was not to be used...there was a grand piano wedged in front of it! Apparently, some work had been done to the floor, and the piano was not to be moved back into it's usual position until the floor had hardened...so it had to remain in the doorway, which made for some interesting ensemble work!
We were all delighted to welcome George back this evening...although we did rather throw him in at the deep-end with some of our large ensemble pieces!

Small group items:

• Quintet in F major by Pepusch - Judy, Penny, Diana, George, Theresa & Imogen 
• Concerto in D minor by Telemann - Emily, Kath, Polly & Angela
• Trio Sonata in D major by Boismortier - Annabel, Mike & Joan

Class - 24th November

We had another 'whistle stop tour' through our pieces for next week's concert at our class last night. In addition to working on our large ensemble pieces...which I filmed and will be adding to our YouTube channel as soon as I find the time...we managed to get through most of the small group items too.

Here's what we played:

• 'Caprice for Clarinets' by Clare Grundman - Helen, Theresa & Dermot
• 'Subjects Obey Army Farm' by Donaldson & Kahn (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Emily, Kath, Polly, Diana & Imogen
• Woodwind Trio by M. Hedien - Penny, Judy & Mike
• 'Serenade for Seven' (with 6 players this week) by Ronald Hanmer - Penny, Judy, Annabel, Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• 'Chants sans paroles' by Tchaikovsky (Arr. Sobrielo) - George, Margaret & Angela
• Trio in D minor by Boismortier - Emily, Diana & Kath
• Quartet in D minor 'Tafelmusik' by Telemann - George, Imogen, Heather, Margaret & Joan
• Something by Handel that I didn't catch the name of... - Annabel, Polly & Angela

Class - 17th November

With only two classes left before our end of term concert, we were busy, busy, busy last night! We whizzed through our large ensemble pieces...which were all sounding much better now we're not so top heavy...and through two rotations of small group items too!

Here's what we played:

• 'Caprice for Clarinets' by Clare Grundman - Helen, Theresa & Anya
• 'Subjects Obey Army Farm' by Donaldson & Kahn (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Emily, Kath, Polly, Diana & Imogen
• Woodwind Trio by M. Hedien - Penny, Judy & Mike
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Boismortier - Annabel, Polly, Imogen, Margaret, Angela & Joan (though not all at the same time!)
• 'Serenade for Seven' (with 6 players this week) by Ronald Hanmer - Penny, Judy, Annabel, Theresa, Anya & Mike
• 'Fantasy' by Faure (Arr. L. Moyse) - Heather, Helen & Angela
• Trio in D minor by Boismortier - Emily, Diana & Kath

Class - 10th November

Tonight's class was a little bit different...with the Church being used for a rehearsal for the licensing of their new vicar, we decamped to two of our members' houses to rehearse some small chamber group pieces. It worked quite well...although I needed to run back and forth to hear what was going on everywhere...thankfully the houses were quite close together!

Here's what we played at Kath's:

• Quartet in D minor 'Tafelmusik' by Telemann - George, Imogen, Heather*, Margaret & Joan
• Trio in D minor by Boismortier - Emily, Diana & Kath
• Trio Sonata in G minor by Pepusch - George, Diana & Imogen 
• Trio Sonatas by Corelli - Emily, Kath, Margaret & Joan
• And apparently something by Handel that I didn't hear...

And at Angela & Mikes:

• Woodwind Trio by M. Hedien - Penny, Judy & Mike
• 'Vocalise' by Rachmaninov - Theresa, Dermot & Angela
• 'Fantasy' by Faure - Heather*, Helen & Angela
• 'Serenade for Seven' (with only 5 players!) by Ronald Hanmer - Penny, Judy, Theresa, Dermot & Mike

 * I don't know how Heather managed to be in two places at once?!

Thank you to our hosts for a most enjoyable evening!

Class - 15th September

A new term usually means new music, but this evening we 'revisited' an old favourite...a selection of movements from J. S. Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio'. We first played it in 2005, and will be performing it, along with some new arrangements, in our concert at the end of term. We also welcomed a new member this evening (Anya on clarinet), and we may have another couple of prospective members coming for a taster session soon!

Small group items:

• Concerto No. 5 in C Major by Pepusch - George, Heather, Penny, Diana, Margaret & Imogen
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Boismortier - Polly, Mike & Angela
• Trio Sonata in G Major by Telemann - Judy, Kath & Joan
• 'Caprice for Clarinets' by Clare Grundman - Helen, Theresa, Dermot & Anya

Class - 16th June

We have a new member! Emily brought along baby Jemima to see us all...and it was lovely to meet her, but at only 7 weeks old, it may be a little while before she's joining in, but mummy has plans for those 'pianist's fingers' so it's only a matter of time!
Despite being a little thin on the ground, our large ensemble items were sounding good this evening...we may be in danger of 'peaking too soon'!

Small group items:

• Vivaldi Concerto in G Minor - George, Judy, Margaret & Imogen
• Boismortier Trio Sonata in D Major - Diana, Mike & Joan
• 'Allegro Brilliante' by Mozart - Penny, Annabel & Theresa
• 'Pavane pour une infante defunte' by Ravel - Heather, Polly & Angela

Class - 10th March

We were a rather select gathering this evening...but still managed to make good progress with the final, definitive version of 'The Hebrides Overture', despite being lacking in the bass department.

Small group items:

• Boismortier Sonata in A Minor - George, Heather, Penny & Joan
• C.P.E. Bach Trio Sonata in G Major - Diana, Kath & Imogen
• 'Summer Sketches' by Alfred Castle - Annie, Polly, Dermot & Theresa