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 - 3rd November

We were still missing a few players this week...it's amazing how everything sounds so different with just a few missing parts...and it left some people feeling rather exposed! We spent quite a bit of time on our large ensemble pieces this evening, because we're not going to be able to do those next week as we'll be split over two locations next time...that should be fun!

Small group items:

• 'Caprice for Clarinets' by Clare Grundman - Helen, Theresa, Dermot & Anya
• 'Subjects Obey Army Farm' by Donaldson & Kahn (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Emily, Kath, Diana & Imogen
• Quintet in D Minor by Keller - George, Judy, Penny, Annabel & Joan

Class - 20th October

We were rather depleted at the class last night...so, it was back to foot stamping out front to help keep time! We muddled though...a bit bare in places, but it was interesting to be able to hear parts not normally exposed! We had been deserted by all of our pianists...but, Anya bravely volunteered to play the piano part in one of the small group items...so it all worked out ok in the end.

Small group items:

• Sonata in E Flat Major by Scarlatti (Arr. Sobrielo) - George, Penny, Judy, Annabel & Margaret
• 'Subjects Obey Army Farm' * by Donaldson & Kahn (Arr. H. Brammer) - Heather, Emily, Kath, Dermot, Theresa, Diana & Anya

* Not the real title...the true identity of this piece will remain a secret until our concert on December 1st.

It's half-term for us next week, so our next class will be on November 3rd.

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

Class - 29th September

We welcomed back Emily this evening...it was lovely to have her playing with us again! As well as continuing with the 'Christmas Oratorio', we began working on a new piece...'Elizabethan Serenade' (by Ronald Binge)...and there was much discussion as to whether it had once been used as the theme music to radio or TV programme in the dim and distant past! Well, thanks to Wikipedia, I can put everyone out of their misery, and reveal that it was indeed...it was the theme for 'Music in Miniature' on the BBC Light Programme...long before my time!

Small group items:

• 'Vocalise' by Rachmaninov - Theresa, Dermot & Angela
• Concerto in C by Vivaldi - Heather, Annabel, Emily, Mike & Imogen
• Quintet in G minor by Pepusch - George, Penny, Judy, Kath, Margaret & Joan

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