Concert - 27th March

We had a jam-packed programme at our Spring concert...there was a little bit of everything. Here's what we played:

Programme:

The Broken Consort - directed by Helen Brammer:

'Eyjafjallajökull' - Andrew Toovey

A world premiere performance of a new work commissioned by, and dedicated to, the performers of The Broken Consort

The Songbyrds – directed by Ben Cox:

'The Bare Necessities' (from Disney's 'The Jungle Book') - Terry Gilkyson

'Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?' - Scottish trad., Anon.

'The Salley Gardens' - Trad. (Arr. Benjamin Britten)

'Danny Boy' - Trad. (Arr. Alan Simmons)

'Feelin' Groovy' - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

'Ave Maria' - Franz Schubert

'I Know Him So Well' (from the musical 'Chess') - Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus

'Thank You For The Music' – ABBA

The Broken Consort & The Songbyrds - directed by Ben Cox:

'Stabat mater dolorosa' from 'Stabat mater' – Pergolesi (Arr. H. Brammer)

'Largo & Allegro' from Sonata in G minor – J. Loeillet of London

George Goodall & Imogen Locke (Treble Recorders); and Joan Goodall (Harpsichord)

'Largo, ma non tanto' from Concerto in D minor – J. S. Bach (Arr. Jasmine Choi)

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

'Affettuoso & Allegro Vivace' from Concerto in A minor – Telemann

George Goodall, Imogen Locke, Maureen Snell (Treble Recorders); Penny Layland, Judy Skelton (Flutes); Annabel Crowe (Oboe); and Joan Goodall (Harpsichord)

'Che soave zeffiretto' & 'Voi che sapete' from 'The Marriage of Figaro' – Mozart (Arr. H. Brammer)

Heather Loebl (Flute; Theresa Hitching, Nicola Thompson (Clarinets); Mike Winterburn (Bassoon); Kath Russell, Rod Lackey, John Marshall (Violins); Polly Kaufmann (Viola); Diana Locke (Bass)

The Broken Consort:

'English Folk Song Suite' – Vaughan Williams (Arr. H. Brammer)

I – 'March: Seventeen Come Sunday'

II – 'Intermezzo: My Bonny Boy'

III – 'March: Folk Songs from Somerset'

The videos have all been uploaded to our YouTube Channel...although my camera switched itself off before the end of a couple of the pieces...not a indication on our performances - I promise!
Once again we enjoyed a lovely post-concert party hosted by Angela & Mike - thank you!

Summer Music @ Imogen's

We had our last summer music gathering of the holiday last Thursday, and this time it was hosted by Imogen. We selected the music using our usual method, and here's what we played:

• 'Andante' from the Surprise Symphony' by Haydn 
• 'English Dance No. IV' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Chanson de Nuit' by Elgar
• 'The Great Gate of Kiev' from Pictures at an Exhibition' by Mussorgsky 
• 'Romance' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
• 'Badinerie' from 'Suite in B Minor' by J. S. Bach
• 'Seventeen come Sunday' from 'English Folksong Suite' by Vaughan Williams
• 'March - For the Love of Three Satsumas (Oranges)' by Prokofiev
• 'Rondo' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart

We concluded the evening with some delicious food & drink and fabulously entertaining story-telling from Joan!

The new term starts in a couple of weeks (September 19th), so I'll be back again then.

Summer Music @ Diana's

We had another Summer Music gathering last Thursday...it was a rather large group this time and was hosted by Diana, who spent the evening with her double bass in the 'minstrel's gallery'! We selected the music using our usual system...here's what we played:

• 'Bouree' from 'The Water Music' by Handel
• Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 'Allegro assai' by J. S. Bach
• 'My Bonny Boy' from 'Folk Song Suite' by Vaughan Williams
• 'Promenade' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Mussorgsky
• 'Capriol Suite' by Peter Warlock
• 'Olympic Fanfare & Theme' by John Williams
• 'Chanson de Matin' Elgar
• 'Sinfonia' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
•  'Rondo' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
• 'Toccata' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• Theme from 'Blackadder' by Howard Goodall
• 'Overture' from 'Suite in B Minor' by J. S. Bach

Well, I think you'll agree that we had earned our refreshments after all that! Thank you to Diana for a lovely evening!

We have one more Summer gathering before term starts...at Imogen's on September 5th.

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!

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).

Concert - 22nd March

What a lovely evening we had last night...the weather was warm...the music was good...and the audience was large - perhaps swelled by those coming to support the Songbyrds, with whom we shared the concert.

If you weren't there...here's what you missed:

Programme

'Fantasia on Greensleeves' - Vaughan Williams (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Scottish Dance No. 3' – Malcolm Arnold (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'It Don't Mean a Thing' – Duke Ellington

'California Dreamin'' – The Mamas & The Papas

'Fields of Gold' - Sting

The Songbyrds

Directed by Benjamin Cox, accompanied by Jonathan Pease (Piano)

'Grave, Largo & Allegro' from Trio Sonata in G minor – Telemann

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

'Scherzo & Trio in G minor' – Schubert (Arr. Emerson)

Heather Loebl, Penny Layland (Flutes); Polly Kaufmann (Oboe); Helen Brammer, Theresa Hitching (Clarinets); & Mike Winterburn (Bassoon)

'Andante & Allegro Moderato' from 'London Trio No. 1 – Haydn

Heather Loebl, Judy Skelton (Flutes); & Margaret Willson ('Cello)

 

'42^nd Street' – Harry Warren

'Hallelujah' – Leonard Cohen

'Close to You' – Burt Bacharach

The Songbyrds

Directed by Benjamin Cox, accompanied by Jonathan Pease (Piano)

'Largo, Adagio & Allegro' from Quintet in F – Pepusch

Judy Skelton, Penny Layland (Flutes); George Goodall (Treble Recorder); Diana Locke (Tenor Recorder); Margaret Willson ('Cello); & Imogen Locke (Piano)

Concerto in D minor – Telemann

Emily Johnson, Kath Russell (Violins); Polly Kaufmann (Viola); Margaret Willson ('Cello); & Angela Ayton (Piano)

'Golden Slumbers' & 'Charlie is my Darling' from 'Four Old Tunes – Gordon Jacob

Heather Loebl (Flute); Annabel Crowe (Oboe); Theresa Hitching (Clarinet); & Mike Winterburn (Bassoon)

'Chariots Comin'!'

'Moon River' – Henry Mancini

'If My Friends Could See Me Now' – Cy Coleman

The Songbyrds

Directed by Benjamin Cox, accompanied by Jonathan Pease (Piano)

'Irish Tune from County Derry' & 'Shepherd's Hey' – Percy Grainger (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

I will be uploading the footage to our YouTube Channel as soon as I can...please bear with me - it's not a quick process! 

I'll be back to let you all know when the videos are all uploaded, but for now I'd just like to say thank you to everyone for your hard work again this term and making the concert such a success!

Class - 15th March

Last night's class was the last rehearsal before our concert next week...so we were busy, busy, busy! As well as rehearsing all of our small group pieces, I filmed our large group items for our Youtube channel...although I had a bit of a fail with that...my camera turned itself off, so I didn't get everything, so will have to record the rest, along with the chamber pieces, at the concert.

Small group items:

• 'Four Old Tunes' by Gordon Jacob - Heather, Annabel, Theresa & Mike
• Telemann Concerto in D minor - Emily, Kath, Polly, Margaret & Angela
• Quintet in F by Pepusch - Judy, Penny, George, Diana & Imogen
• Telemann Trio Sonata in G minor - Imogen, Diana, Margaret & Joan
• 'Scherzo & Trio in G minor' by Schubert - Heather, Penny, Polly, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• Haydn 'London Trio No. 1' - Heather, Judy & Margaret
• Boismortier Quartet in A minor - George, Emily, Kath & Angela

Class - 8th March

Normal service has resumed...the piano was no longer wedged in the doorway this evening, and it was good to be able to arrange ourselves in our usual positions again! We had almost a full house...we're yet to have everyone in attendance...the first time that happens this term may well be at the concert! Everything sounded really good tonight ...although it did take us a couple of attempts to all finish 'Shepherd's Hey' together...and here's only one more week to get that right - eeeek!

Small group items:

• 'London Trio' (No. 1) by Haydn - Heather, Judy & Margaret
• Trio Sonata in G minor by Telemann - Imogen, Diana, Margaret & Joan
• 'Scherzo & Trio in G minor' by Schubert - Heather, Penny, Polly, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• 'Sonata da Camera' by Janitsch - George, Judy, Emily, Kath & Angela

Class - 1st March

We were again confronted by a piano wedged in the doorway when we arrived at the Church this evening...but as you can see, we carried on regardless! It's not really practical for us all to crowd around the piano, so we again set up in our usual position and used the two keyboards instead, to rehearse our large ensemble pieces. We almost had a 'full house' tonight...and although there's a little more 'tweaking' to do in places, the pieces are all sounding good.

Small group items:

• 'Four Old Tunes' by Gordon Jacob - Heather, Annabel, Theresa & Mike
• Concerto in D minor by Telemann - Emily, Kath, Polly, Margaret & Angela
• Trio Sonata in G minor by Finger - George, Judy & Joan
• Trio Sonata in D minor by Telemann - Penny, Diana & Imogen

Class - 23rd February

We've had an interesting evening. When we arrived at the Church, our usual entrance displayed a sign stating it was closed...no problem...we have the key...but no...it was bolted on the inside...thankfully, the other door, (which is usually bolted) was not, so we were able to get in. Upon entering the building, it became obvious why the door was not to be used...there was a grand piano wedged in front of it! Apparently, some work had been done to the floor, and the piano was not to be moved back into it's usual position until the floor had hardened...so it had to remain in the doorway, which made for some interesting ensemble work!
We were all delighted to welcome George back this evening...although we did rather throw him in at the deep-end with some of our large ensemble pieces!

Small group items:

• Quintet in F major by Pepusch - Judy, Penny, Diana, George, Theresa & Imogen 
• Concerto in D minor by Telemann - Emily, Kath, Polly & Angela
• Trio Sonata in D major by Boismortier - Annabel, Mike & Joan

Class - 9th February

It was marginally warmer than last week inside the Church last night...despite the falling snow outside...and we continued to work on our large ensemble items...which are coming along nicely...although I'm expecting even more improvement next time, after all the furious half-term practising!

Small group items:

• 'Scherzo & Trio in G minor' by Schubert (arr. Emerson) - Heather, Penny, Polly, Helen, Anya, Theresa & Mike
• Concerto for Four Flutes by Telemann - Judy, Emily, Annabel & Kath
• Trio Sonata in G minor by Telemann - Imogen, Diana & Joan

Class - 2nd February

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr...it was a bit brass monkeys in the Church at last night's rehearsal! With only a couple of the heaters producing any heat, the Church's heating was no match for the sub-zero temperature outside...but we bravely carried on despite our frozen fingers! Our large ensemble pieces are all improving...we even attempted the accelerando at the end of 'Shepherd's Hey'!

Small group items:

• Quintet in F by J. C. Pepusch - Judy, Penny, Diana, Helen, Dermot & Imogen
• 'Flower Duet' from 'Lakme' by Delibes (Arr. H. Brammer) - Annabel, Theresa & Mike
• Suite in A minor by Telemann - Heather, Emily, Kath, Margaret & Angela

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 - 19th January

This expression...accompanied by audible gasps...was the reaction to the discovery that tonight's new piece ('Scottish Dance No. 3' by Malcolm Arnold) had a key signature of five flats in the middle! By the third time through it didn't seem so bad though! We made good progress with our other large ensemble pieces...negotiating the tricky changes in tempi and time signatures in 'Fantasia on Greensleeves'...and we even managed to finish 'Shepherd's Hey' (more or less) together...and at a faster speed!

Small group items:

• 'Air on a G String' by J. S. Bach (Arr. Karen Evans) - Heather, Polly & Dermot
• Divertimento no. 1 in Bb Major by Mozart - Penny, Theresa & Mike
• Trio Sonata in G Minor by Telemann - Imogen, Diana & Joan
• Concerto in G Minor by Vivaldi - Emily, Kath, Margaret & Angela

Class - 12th January

We were joined by some of last week's absentees this evening, as we continued working on our new ensemble pices...'Fantasia on Greensleeves' (by Vaughan Williams) and 'Irish Tune from County Derry' & 'Shepherd's Hey' (by Grainger) - it may take us some time to get that last one up to speed!

Small group items:

• 'Charlie is my Darling' from 'Four Old Tunes' by Gordon Jacob - Heather, Annabel, Theresa & Mike
• No. 6 from 'Sechs Menuetti' by Beethoven - Kath, Emily & Margaret
• Sonata in F Major by Schickhardt - Penny, Judy, Diana, Dermot & Angela

Class - 5th January

Happy New Year!

A new new term means new music, and this term we have a distinctly 'folky' theme to our large ensemble pieces. We made a start on 'Fantasia on Greensleeves' (by Vaughan Williams) and 'Irish Tune from County Derry' and 'Shepherd's Hey' (Grainger versions) - having great fun trying to play the last chord of 'Shepherd's Hey' all at the same time!

Small group items:

• 'London Trios' by Haydn - Heather, Judy & Margaret
• Quintet in F by J. C. Bach - Penny, Diana, Kath, Polly, Mike & Imogen
• 'Masonic Adagio' by Mozart - Theresa, Anya & Angela

Summer Music @ Polly's

Our summer music sessions came to an end last night, with a most enjoyable evening hosted by Polly - thank you! We played a lovely (and varied!) selection of old (and not so old) favourites, then devoured a delicious feast, but the best thing about the evening was seeing Joan (and George!) up and about, and playing piano again!

Here's what we played:

• 'The Great Gate of Kiev' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition - Mussorgsky (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Serenade' - Bourgeois (Arr. H. Brammer)
• Andantino from 'The Trout Quintet' - Schubert (Arr. H. Brammer)
• Theme from 'Blackadder' - Goodall (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Fiddler on the Roof' Medley - Harnick & Bock (Arr. van der Goot)
• 'My Bonny Boy' from 'English Folk Song Suite' - Vaughan Williams (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Rondo' from 'Suite in B Minor' - J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Capriol Suite' - Warlock (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Promenade' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition' - Mussorgsky (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 - Allegro' - J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)

Just a quick reminder before I go - term starts in two weeks (on September 15th). Looking forward to seeing everyone again...and working on some new music.

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)

Summer Music @ Kath's

A most enjoyable evening was had last night, as we kicked off this year's 'Summer Music' soirees with an evening of music (and delicous food!) at Kath's. Music was chosen by 'Lucky Dip' from a huge selection of old favourites...here's what we played:

• 'My Bonny Boy' from 'English Folk Song Suite' - Vaughan Williams (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Funeral March of a Marionette' - Gounod (Arr. van der Goot)
• 'Serenade' - Derek Bourgeois (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Peter & the Wolf' - Prokofiev (Arr. van der Goot)
• 'Brandenburg Concerto No 3 - Allegro' - J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Chanson de Matin' - Elgar (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Slavonic Dance No 8' - Dvorak (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Overture' from 'Suite in B Minor' - J. S. Bach (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Alla Hornpipe' from 'The Water Music' - Handel (Arr. H. Brammer)
• 'Toccata' from 'Pulcinella' - Stravinsky (Arr. H. Brammer)

****************************************

In other news...

We now have a YouTube Channel! 

At the moment there is only one video - edited highlights of the small group items from our last concert. You may have noticed that video has also been added to the top of our blog, so you can also watch it on here. I now have audio recordings of our full ensemble pieces from that concert (thank you Dermot!), and have turned those into videos too, with some of the photos from the concert. I will be uploading those to our channel over the next couple of days (it's not a quick process!), and will let you know when they're ready for your viewing pleasure!

I've added a new page for 'Term Dates' - hopefully this should make it easier for everyone to find. I've not added dates for the Spring and Summer terms 2012 yet, but will update the page when those have been finalised.