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 - 26th January

We seemed to have got over the shock of the key signature with five flats (and then five sharps for the clarinets), and made good progress this evening with our large ensemble pieces...adding dynamics (ranging from pp to fff!) in the 'Irish Tune from County Derry'...and picking up speed in 'Shepherd's Hey'...although we have yet to try it with an accelerando at the end!

Small group items:

• 'Marie Antoinette' by Scott Joplin (Arr. H. Brammer) - Polly, Dermot & Mike
• Trio Sonata in E minor by Telemann - Diana, Kath & Joan
• Sonata in Bb major by Fasch - Imogen, Judy, Emily, Margaret & Angela
• 'Cuckoo Quartet' by Ronald Hanmer - Heather, Penny, Theresa & Helen

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 - 22nd September

Ooops - so sorry for not posting this sooner...I wrote it Thursday night, but then lost my internet connection when I went to publish it, and have just realised it was still sitting in the drafts folder...anyway, better late than never!

We had another visitor for a 'taster session' this evening...Katie on treble recorder (who will bring down the average age of the group dramatically if she joins!), as we continued working on the excerpts from J. S. Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio'. We've also been exploring some of the music that has been donated to us by the group's previous tutor (Denis Sobrielo), and all of this evening's small group items came from his collection:

• 'Serenade for Seven' by Ronald Hanmer - Penny, Judy, Annabel, Theresa, Anya, Dermot & Mike
• 'Chants sans paroles' by Tchaikovsky (Arr. Denis Sobrielo) - George, Margaret & Angela
• 'Quintet in D Minor' by Keller - Imogen, Katie, Polly, Kath & Joan

Class - 27th January

I think I must be making the arrangements too easy - the 'Wedding Day at Troldhaugen' is already beginning to take shape, on only the second rehearsal.

Small group items:

• Telemann Concerto in F - Kath, Polly, Margaret & Imogen
• 'Cuckoo Quartet' by Ronald Hanmer - Annie, Diana, Theresa & Dermot
• Hotteterre Trio Sonata in C 'Le Romain' - George, Judy & Joan
• Divertimento by Paul Harris - Heather, Annabel, Helen, Mike & Angela

As well as making music this evening, we also celebrated Theresa's birthday...she's in good company...Mozart was born on this day in 1756. She was very naughty...and hadn't told any of us, and spoilt us with yummy cakes and bubbly - Happy Birthday Theresa!