Concert - 11th July

We had a lovely summer's evening for our end of term concert,and a rather 'select' audience...although it did seem to grow during the course of the concert! If you weren't there, here's what you missed:

 

Programme

'Overture' to 'The Mastersingers of Nurenburg' – Richard Wagner (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Largo & Allegro' from Trio Sonata in G Minor – G. F. Handel

George Goodall & Imogen Locke (Treble Recorders); Margaret Willson ('Cello); & Joan Goodall (Piano)

'Variations on the theme “La ci darem la mano” from Mozart's “Don Giovanni” - Beethoven

Heather Loebl (Flute); Helen Brammer (Clarinet); & Mike Winterburn (Bassoon)

'A Musical Joke' – W. A. Mozart (Arr. H. Brammer)

Theresa Hitching, Nicola Thompson & Helen Brammer (Clarinets)

'Allegro moderato' from 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 3' – J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Send in the Clowns' – Stephen Sondheim (Arr. H. Brammer)

Theresa Hitching, Nicola Thompson (Clarinets); Kath Russell, Rod Lackey, John Marshall (Violins); Polly Kaufmann (Viola); Diana Locke (Double Bass); & Angela Ayton (Piano)

'Largo & Allegro molto' from Concerto in C Major – Vivaldi

Heather Loebl, Judy Skelton (Flutes); Polly Kaufmann (Viola); Mike Winterburn (Bassoon); & Angela Ayton (Piano)

'March, Canzonetta & Tirolese' from 'Soirees Musicales' – Rossini/Britten (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

We of course enjoyed an 'after party' hosted once again by Mike and Angela (thank you!), with delicious food and drinks.

I filmed the concert, and the videos have been uploaded to our YouTube channel, so if you fancy having a look (or re-living the occasion!) click the link in the sidebar to watch them.

We will be having some 'Summer Music' gatherings over the course of the summer break, starting with a visit to Nicola's on the 1st of August.

Class - 4th July

It was the last class before our concert this week, so despite the fact we were missing a few players, we put the finishing touches to our laarge ensemble pieces, and also managed to get through most of the small group pieces too!

Small group items:

• 'Variations on "La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni"' by Beethoven - Heather, Helen & Mike
• 'Send in the Clowns' by Stephen Sondheim - Kath, John, Polly, Diana & Angela
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Handel - George, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• Sonatas for Two Flutes by Telemann - Judy & Maureen
• Concerto in C Major by Vivaldi - Heather, Judy, Polly, Mike & Angela
• 'Rondeau' by Mouret - Maureen, Diana, Kath & John

Class - 27th June

We're getting to the 'sharp end' of term, with only one more class to go after this week before our concert, so there was much to do this evening! 

Small group items:

• Concerto in C Major by Vivaldi - Heather, Judy, Polly, Mike & Angela
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Handel - George, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• 'A Musical Joke' by Mozart - Theresa, Nicola & Helen
• Concerto for Four Flutes by Telemann - Alison, Maureen, Kath, John & Diana

Class - 20th June

We're still working away on our large ensemble pieces, and everything is starting to come together nicely...there are even some dynamics starting to creep in!

Small group items:

• 'Variations on "La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" by Beethoven - Heather, Helen & Mike
• 'Send in the Clowns' by Stephen Sondheim - Theresa, Nicola, Kath, Rod, John, Diana & Angela
• Concerto No. 5 by Pepusch - Alison, Judy, George, Imogen, Margaret & Joan

Class - 13th June

We had a visitor this evening...a composer who may be comissioned to write a piece especially for us! He listened (and offered some constructive feedback) to all of our large ensemble pieces, then worked with one of the small groups - and seemed very positive about working with us.

Small group items:

• Concerto in C Major by Vivaldi - Heather, Judy, Alison, Polly, Mike & Angela
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Handel - George, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• 'Greensleeves' (Arr. H. Brammer) - Theresa, Nicola, Rod & John

Class - 6th June

We continued working on all of our large ensemble pieces...and we're even beginning to pick up speed in the 'Brandenburg'...much to Heather's relief! We're looking forward to welcoming a visitor next week...a composer that we may be looking to comission a piece from.

Small group items:

• 'Send in the Clowns' by Stephen Sondheim (Arr. H. Brammer) - Theresa, Nicola, Kath, Rod, John, Helen, Margaret, Diana & Angela
• Sonata for Three Flutes by Quantz - Alison, Judy & Heather
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Finger - George, Imogen, Mike & Joan

Class - 23rd May

We were still rather depleted in numbers this week (with only one flute!) but managed to make progress with our large ensemble pieces, as well as trying our possible concert pieces in our small groups.

Small group items:

• 'A Musical Joke' by Mozart (Arr. H. Brammer) - Theresa, Nicola & Helen
• Concerto in A Minor by Vivaldi - George, Maureen, Diana, Margaret & Angela
• Concerto in C Major by Vivaldi - Imogen, Annabel, Kath, John, Rod, Mike & Joan

It's our half-term break next week, so we'll be back in a fortnight.

Class - 2nd May

We continued to work on the movements from the 'Soirees Musicales'   (Britten/Rossini) and the Brandenburg Concerto (J. S. Bach), and we're starting to make progress...although I think we're going to need to pick up quite a lot of speed in the latter if we're going to stop Heather from passing out in the concert! We also had a 'Special General Meeting' this evening as we needed to elect a couple more committe members in order to be 'constitutional' once more! (The minutes have been added to the committee page).

Small group items:

• Sonata in D Major by Tartini - Alison, Judy & Margaret
• Quintet in E Flat Major by J. C. Bach - Heather, Annabel, Kath, Polly, Mike & Angela
• 'Funeral March of a Marionette' by Gounod - George, Imogen, Maureen, Helen, Theresa, Nicola, Anya, John, Rod, Diana & Joan

Class - 25th April

We revisited another 'old favourite' at last week's class...'Allegro Moderato' from the 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 3' by J. S. Bach, and continued with the 'Soirees Musicales' (Britten/Rossini)...I'm still working on the final large ensemble piece...it's a bit of an epic! Before we split into small groups, we celebrated Annabel's birthday with some delicious cake and bubbly...we should definitely do that every week!

Small group items:

• 'The Maple Leaf Rag' by Joplin (Arr. H. Brammer) - Alison, Annabel, Theresa, Nicola & Mike
• Concerto for Four Flutes by Molter - George, Imogen, Maureen, Judy, Margaret & Joan
• Trio Sonata No. IV by Corelli - Kath, John, Polly, Rod & Angela

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!

Summer Music @ Annabel's

We had our second summer music gathering of the holiday last night, this time hosted by Annabel. Again the music was selected at random...here's what we played:

• 'Tirolese' from 'Soirees Musicales' by Benjamin Britten
• 'Promenade' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Mussorgsky
• 'Chanson de Matin' by Elgar
•  'Waltz' by Shostakovich
• 'Sinfonia' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Polka' from 'Jazz Suite No. 1' by Shostakovich
• 'Minuetto' from 'L'Arlesienne' by Bizet
• 'Capriol Suite' by Peter Warlock
• 'Allegro moderato' from 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 3' by J. S. Bach
• 'Peer Gynt Suite No. 1' by Greig

After playing, we enjoyed a delicious feast...I don't have a photo of us this time, but did snap the cakes before they were devoured!

Thanks for a lovely evening Annabel...see (some of) you again next week!

Summer Music @ Annabel's

We had another lovely summer music soiree last night, this time hosted by Annabel. Once again there was a feast of delicious food to be enjoyed after some musical fun. We delved into the depths of the music boxes and pulled out some old favourites, some of which hadn't seen the light of day since we performed them in a concert 5 or 6 years ago! There was also discussion of where to promote & advertise our group using the wonderful posters Penny has designed for us...and I'm going to try and make the blog more 'Googlebot' friendly, so you may notice some changes to the layout over the next few days - I promise I'm not doing it to confuse you!

Anyway, here's what we played last night:

• 'Fiddler on the Roof' Medley - Harnick & Bock (Arr. van der Goot)
• Theme from 'Blackadder' - Goodall (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 - Allegro Assai' - J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'My Bonny Boy' from 'English Folk Song Suite' - Vaughan Williams (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Sicilienne' - Faure (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Tirolese' from 'Soirees Musicales' - Britten/Rossini (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Karelia - Suite' - Sibelius (Arr. van der Goot)
• 'Hallelujah Chorus' - Handel (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Capriol Suite' - Warlock (Arr. . Brammer)