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 - 23rd June

It was a very 'select' gathering this evening...but we ploughed on undeterred by the moments of silence in our large ensemble pieces!

Small group items:

• 'Chants sans paroles' by Tchaikovsky - George, Margaret & Angela
• Telemann Trio Sonata in G Minor - Diana, Polly & Joan
• 'Salut d'Amour' by Elgar - Penny, Thersa & Mike

Class - 16th June

We have a new member! Emily brought along baby Jemima to see us all...and it was lovely to meet her, but at only 7 weeks old, it may be a little while before she's joining in, but mummy has plans for those 'pianist's fingers' so it's only a matter of time!
Despite being a little thin on the ground, our large ensemble items were sounding good this evening...we may be in danger of 'peaking too soon'!

Small group items:

• Vivaldi Concerto in G Minor - George, Judy, Margaret & Imogen
• Boismortier Trio Sonata in D Major - Diana, Mike & Joan
• 'Allegro Brilliante' by Mozart - Penny, Annabel & Theresa
• 'Pavane pour une infante defunte' by Ravel - Heather, Polly & Angela

Class - 9th June

I don't know if it was the week off...or lots furious practising over half-term...but our large ensemble pieces sounded so much better this evening...lots of contrasts in dynamics...and we're picking up speed in 'The Marriage of Figaro'...didn't realise the metronome went up that high!

Small group items:

• 'Scherzo & Trio in G Minor' by Schubert - Heather, Penny, Polly, Helen, Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• C. P. E. Bach Trio Sonata in G Major - Diana, Kath & Imogen
• Quantz Trio Sonata in D Minor - Annie, Annabel & Joan
• Telemann Trio Sonata in C Major - George, Judy, Margaret & Angela

Class - 26th May

We're still cracking on with our large ensemble items...and they were certainly sounding more together this week, with dynamics too! It's half-term next week...which is usually the point at which practising gets more serious, so I'm looking forward to hearing big improvements at the next class!

Small group items:

• 'Vocalise' by Rachmaninov - Theresa, Dermot & Angela
• C. P. E. Bach Trio Sonata in G Major - Diana, Kath & Imogen
• J. C. Bach Quintet in G Major - George, Penny, Judy, Polly & Joan
• General Radetsky Goes Cuckoo (with apologies to Johann Strauss) by Michaelson - Heather, Annie, Helen & Mike

Class - 19th May

We had a visitor this evening...Anya (on clarinet) joined us for a free 'taster' session...she enjoyed the evening, and we didn't scare her off, so she'll be back again next week! We continued working on all our large ensemble items, which (despite a few ropey moments) are all coming along nicely.

Small group items:

• 'Caprice for Clarinets' by Clare Grundman - Helen, Theresa & Anya
• Loeillet Sonata in D Minor - Heather, Annie, Penny, Judy, Mike & Joan
• Keller Sonata in G - George, Imogen, Diana, Kath, Margaret & Angela
• Telemann Canonic Sonata No 1 - Annabel & Polly

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

Class - 5th May

We had a full house this week...and a special guest in the form of Diana's Double Bass...so we now have a full compliment of strings! We whizzed through quite a lot of full ensemble pieces: 'La Marseillaise'; the Overture to 'The Marriage of Figaro' (by Mozart); the two movements from Shostakovich's 'Jazz Suite No. 1'; and also 'Tahiti Trot - Tea for Two' by Shostakovich.

Small group items:

• 'Minuet in F' by JS Bach (Arr. David Farnon) - Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• 'Pavane pour une infante defunte' by Ravel - Heather, Polly & Angela
• Trio Sonata in D Minor by Quantz - Annie, Annabel & Joan
• Concerto in A Minor by Telemann - George, Penny, Judy, Diana, Kath, Helen, Margaret & Imogen