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

Class - 12th May

Sorry for the delay (again!)...I did write and publish this last night, but Blogger decided to throw a wobbly after that, and has deleted everything posted on all blogs since sometime on Wednesday (11th)...including what I wrote last night, so here we go again...

We continued working on our large ensemble pieces this evening...and we're gaining speed in the 'Marriage of Figaro Overture'. I added double bass parts to the Shostakovich pieces, and it's added a real depth to our sound...even if I did catch Diana by surprise with some pizzicato notes!

Small group items:

• 'Shimmering Flutes' by John Cacavas - Annie, Judy, Penny & Imogen
• Sonata da camera by Janitsch - George, Diana, Kath, Margaret & Joan
• 'A Simple Serenade' by Gordon Jacob - Heather, Annabel, Helen & Mike
• 'Vocalise' by Rachmaninov - Theresa, Dermot & Angela