Summer Music @ Judy's

At our second summer music gathering of the season, we had a marathon music-making session...here's what we played:

• 'Tahiti- Trot (Tea for Two)' by Shostakovich
• 'Marche Militaire' by Schubert
• 'Alle Hornpipe' from 'The Water Music' by Handel
• 'Sinfonia' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Rondo' from the 'Suite in B Minor' by J. S. Bach
• 'Sicilienne' by Faure
• 'I Feel Pretty' from 'West Side Story' by Bernstein
• 'Bouree' from 'The Water Music' by Handel
• Overture to 'The Mastersingers of Nurenberg' by Wagner
• 'Allegro moderato' from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3' by J. S. Bach
• 'Elizabethan Serenade' by Ronald Binge

Thanks to everyone for the delicious food, and to Judy for being a wonderful host.

Summer Music @ Polly's

We had our summer music of the holidays a couple of weeks ago, hosted by Polly. There was quite a large group of us, and using our usual 'lucky dip' method of selecting the music for the evening, this is what we played:

• Theme from Blackadder' by Howard Goodall
• 'Tango Ballad' from 'The Threepenny Opera' by Kurt Weill
• 'Polka' from 'Jazz Suite No. 1' by Shostakovich
• 'English Dance No. IV' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Crown Imperial' by William Walton
• 'Elizabethan Serenade' by Ronald Binge
• 'Scottish Dance No. 3' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Sinfonia' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Cantique de Jean Racine' by Faure
• 'Overture Miniature' from 'The Nutcracker' by Tchaikovsky
• 'Menuetto' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
• 'Shepherd's Hey' by Percy Grainger

Phew! Once we'd played that lot we had really earned our feast! Thanks to Polly for a wonderful evening...next up is Judy!

Concert - 5th December

Despite the freezing temperature (both outside and inside the Church!), our Christmas concert was well attended, by regulars and some new audience members.

Here's what we played:

Programme

'Overture Miniature' from 'The Nutcracker'

– Tchaikovsky (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'I – Vivace' from 'Concerto in D Minor'

- J. S. Bach (Arr. Jasmine Choi)

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

'Berceuse' – Fauré (Arr. Jan van der Goot)

Alison Shaw, Penny Layland & Judy Skelton (Flutes)

'Gavotte' & 'Bourée' from 'Orchestral Suite No. 3'

– J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)

Alison Shaw (Flute); Annabel Crowe (Oboe); Theresa Hitching & Nicola Thompson (Clarinets); Mike Winterburn (Bassoon); Kath Russell, Rod Lackey & John Marshall (Violins); Polly Kaufmann (Viola); & Margaret Willson ('Cello)

'Chanson de Matin' & 'Chanson de Nuit'

- Elgar (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Adagio & Allegro' from 'Trio I' – J. S. Bach

Maureen Snell (Treble Recorder); Diana Locke (Tenor Recorder); & Angela Ayton (Piano)

'Sugar Plum Swing Out' from 'Nutcracker Surprise' – Tchaikovsky (Arr. Duncan Stubbs)

Theresa Hitching, Helen Brammer & Nicola Thompson (Clarinets)

'Andante & Vivace' from 'Quartet in D minor

– Tafelmusik' – Telemann

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

'Waltz of the Flowers' from 'The Nutcracker'

– Tchaikovsky (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

As is traditional, we enjoyed a post-concert gathering wonderfully hosted by Mike & Angela, with lots of delicious food & drink, and fabulous company. Videos of all of the performances from the concert can be seen here on our YouTube Channel.

Summer Music @ Nicola's

We had our first Summer Music gathering of the holiday last Thursday...hosted by one of our newest members, Nicola. There were several other Summer Music 'first-timers' too...and I'm not sure that they knew what they were letting themselves in for! The music was selected by lucky dip (as always), and we played a wide variety of composers' works, although Vaughan Williams made several appearances!

Here's what we played:

• 'The Old Castle' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Mussorgsky 
• 'English Dance No. 1' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Pavane pour une infante defunte' by Ravel
• 'Hallelujah Chorus' from 'The Messiah' by Handel
• 'Hebrides Overture' by Mendelssohn
• 'Fantasia on Greensleeves' by Vaughan Williams
• 'Folk Songs from Somerset' from 'Folk Song Suite' by Vaughan Williams
•  'Toccata' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Sicilienne' by Faure
• Overture to 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Mozart
• 'My Bonny Boy' from 'Folk Song Suite' by Vaughan Williams

We of course enjoyed some delicious food & drink afterwards...I think we'd earned it after playing all of that in the sweltering heat! Thank you to Nicola for a lovely evening!

Our next gathering is in on the 22nd at Diana's...looking forward to seeing you there!

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)

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 - 14th February

We worked hard on our full ensemble pieces at last week's class, in preparation for our first joint rehearsal with the Songbyrds which will happen after our half-term break. It's the first time in the Broken Consort's 40 year history that there's been a collaboration with another group, so we're all very excited to hear how it sounds!

Small group items:

• 'Rondeau' from 'Abdelazer' by Purcell (Arr. H. Brammer) - Penny, Judy, Theresa, Anya, Nicola, Mike, Kath, John, Rod & Diana
• 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' by J.S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer) - George, Imogen, Maureen, Margaret & Joan
• 'Andante & Rondo' by Doppler - Heather, Helen & 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 - 31st January

After a couple of weeks of record beating attendances, for one reason or another, we were back down to more modest numbers last week. Despite some gaps, our large ensemble pieces are progressing well, and we look forward to our first rehearsal with the Songbyrds at the end of the month.

Small group items:

• 'Rondeau' from 'Abdelazer' by Purcell (Arr. H. Brammer) - Penny, Helen, Annabel, Theresa, Anya, Nicola, Kath, John & Mike
• 'Valse des Fleurs' by Kohler - Heather, Alison & Angela
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Pepusch - Maureen, Polly & Imogen

Class - 24th January

We had another record turnout this week, as we welcomed back Penny from her travels. We also revisited an 'old favourite'...'The Ashokan Farewell' by Jay Ungar...so we've now begun working on all of the large ensemble pieces we'll be performing in our end of term concert. We have yet to rehearse the joint pieces ('I Feel Pretty' and 'Cantique de Jean Racine') with the Songbyrds, but are looking forward to the challenge!

Small group items:

• Concerto in A minor by Telemann - George, Maureen, Penny, Judy, Rod, John, Anya, Nicola, Dermot, Margaret & Joan
• 'Evesham Andante' by Elgar - Heather, Alison, Diana, Helen, Mike & Angela 
• 'Dance a Cachucha' by Sullivan - Imogen, Polly, Kath & Theresa

Class - 17th January

We had another couple of potential new members at last Thursday's class...Nicola on clarinet, and Rod on violin...so it was a record turn-out for the Broken Consort! As well as continuing with 'I Feel Pretty' and 'Slavonic Dance No. 8', we had our first read-through of 'Cantique de Jean Racine' by Faure - the other piece that we'll be performing with the Songbyrds at our end of term concert.

Small group items:

• Concerto in E Minor by Telemann - Heather, Alison, Kath, John, Rod, Polly, Diana & Angela
• 'Allegretto' by J.C. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer) - Judy, Annabel, Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• 'Quartettino' by Scarlatti - George, Imogen, Maureen, Margaret & Joan

Summer Music @ Judy's

We had our last summer music session of the year last night, at Judy's new house. I think she must have chosen it for the lovely large room we had to play in, which was just as well as there was rather a lot of us to accommodate! In keeping with tradition, we each selected a piece to play at random, from our ever-increasing libray!

Here's what we played:

• 'Allegro Assai' from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 by J.S. Bach
• 'Andante' from Symphony No. 94  ('Surprise') by Haydn
• 'Hallelujah Chorus' from 'The Messiah' by Handel
• 'Romance' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
• 'My Bonny Boy' from 'Folk Song Suite' by Vaughan Williams
• 'Mesto' from 'English Dances' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Marche Militaire' by Schubert
• 'Toccata' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Rondo' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
• 'Scilienne' by Faure
• 'The Ashokan Farewell' by Jay Ungar
• 'Allegro risoluto' from 'English Dances' by Malcolm Arnold
• Overture to 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Mozart

And after all that lot, we had earned our feast! Thank you to Judy for hosting a most enjoyable evening!

A quick reminder before I go, that our new term begins on Thursday 20th September.

Summer Music @ Heather's

We had our first 'Summer Music' session of the holiday last night, hosted by Heather. It was a lovely evening, and we entertained Heather's neighbours with a selection of some of our old favourites...picked at random. Here's what we played:

• 'Allegro Assai' from 'Brandenburg Concerto No.2' by J S Bach
• 'Hallelujah Chorus' from 'The Messiah' by Handel
• 'Folksongs from Somerset' from 'English Folksong Suite by Vaughan Williams
• 'Wedding Day at Troldhaugen' by Grieg
• 'Sicilienne' by Faure
• 'Romance' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'by Mozart
• 'Chanson de Nuit' by Elgar
• 'Overture' to Suite in B minor by J S Bach
• 'Alla hornpipe' from 'The Water Music' by Handel
• Overture to 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Mozart

After the music making, there was of course some food and drink to be enjoyed...a most delicious spread! You can see the aftermath in this panoramic photo below:

(Click the photo for a better view)

Thank you to Heather for a wonderful evening...I can confirm that you will recieve a 5* rating!

PS - I have updated the dates for next term on the 'Term Dates' page (click the tab at the top of the page to view).

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 - 6th October

There was more new music at last night's class...'The Dance of the Snowmen' from 'The Snowman' by Howard Blake...which made for interesting sight-reading at speed! We had mixed results with our other large ensemble items...which we're blaming on our absent friends!

Small group items:

• 'Divertissement in Bb Major' by Haydn (Arr. Sobrielo) - Emily, Annabel, Imogen, Penny, Polly & Joan
• 'Slavonic Dance No. 10' by Dvorak (Arr. Terry Kenny) - Kath, Diana, Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• 'Fantasy' by Faure (Arr. L. Moyse) - Heather, Helen & Angela

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)

Spring Concert

Wow...what a fantastic evening we had last night at our Spring concert! It was a bit of a new venture for us, we shared the concert with a newly formed all female group of singers (also based in Ealing), called The Songbyrds. We are planning to include some joint items with The Songbyrds in our future concerts, but this was just to 'test the water'! We also welcomed some new audience members, with some members of the Church's congregation, and also friends and family of The Songbyrds. If you weren't there...here's what you missed:

Programme

'Wedding Day at Troldhaugen' – Grieg (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Rondeau' – Purcell (Arr. H. Brammer)

Annie Kaufmann, Penny Layland (Flute); Diana Locke (Tenor Recorder); Kath Russell (Violin); and Polly Kaufmann (Viola)

'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' – Handel

Angela Ayton & Imogen Locke (Piano)

'Adagio' & 'Allegro' from Trio Sonata in G Minor – Finger

George Goodall, Imogen Locke (Treble Recorder); Margaret Willson (Cello); and Joan Goodall (piano)

'Song of the Tree of Life' – Vaughan Williams

The Songbyrds

'Duo' – Busoni

Heather Loebl, Helen Brammer (Flute); and Angela Ayton (Piano)

Sonata da Chiesa – Corelli

Annabel Crowe, Polly Kaufmann (Oboe); and Mike Winterburn (Bassoon)

'Berceuse' – Faure

Heather Loebl, Annie Kaufmann & Penny Layland (Flute)

'Ave Verum Corpus' – Faure, Mozart & Elgar

The Songbyrds

'Vivace' & 'Allegro' from Trio Sonata in F Major – Telemann

Imogen Locke (Treble Recorder); Diana Locke (Tenor Recorder); Margaret Willson (Cello); and Joan Goodall (Piano)

'Alice' – Geoffry Russell-Smith

Helen Brammer, Theresa Hitching & Dermot Stone (Clarinet)

'Divertimento' (Romance, Intermezzo, Serenade & Burlesque) – Paul Harris

Heather Loebl (Flute); Annabel Crowe (Oboe); Helen Brammer (Clarinet); Mike Winterburn (Bassoon); and Angela Ayton (Piano)

'Autumn Leaves' – Kosma & Prevert

The Songbyrds

'All that Jazz' – Kander & Ebb

The Songbyrds

'The Hebrides Overture' – Mendelssohn (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

Phew...looks like it was a bit of a marathon, but the concert was no longer than our previous ones...just a lot more slick with the changeovers! And our rendition of 'The Hebrides Overture' was (and I'm quoting a couple of our audience members here) 'triumphant'! Well done everyone - you really excelled yourselves!

I do have a few photos...apologies for the blurryness of some of these...I blame my photographer!

I'm also going to add these to our 'Photos' page, which you can find at the top of the blog...we've also added some information about The Broken Consort, written by Kath, to the 'About Us' page, which was also included in the programme for last night's concert.

Oh...and it wouldn't be a Broken Consort concert, and party (thanks Angela and Mike for once again being excellent hosts!) without some cakes:

Nearly forgot...as usual, admission was free to our concert, but we did have a retiring collection in aid of the Church's fund to restore their Walker organ (more details can be found here), which raised a massive £75!