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

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.