Summer Music @ Maureen's

Our final summer music session of the year was hosted by Maureen...here's what we played:

• 'Scottish Dance No. 3' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Elizabethan Serenade' by Ronald Binge
• 'Alla Hornpipe' from 'The Water Music' by Handel
• 'Allegro assai' from 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 2' by J. S. Bach
• Overture to 'The Mastersingers of Nurenburg' by Wagner
• 'Mack the Knife' from 'The Threepenny Opera' by Kurt Weill
• 'Toccata' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Serenade' by Derek Bourgeios
• 'Crown Imperial' by William Walton
• 'The Old Castle' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Mussorgsky
• 'Overture Miniature' from 'The Nutcracker' by Tchaikovsky

Once again we enjoyed some delicious food (and drinks) after our exertions...many thanks to Maureen for having us!

Summer Music @ Polly's

We had our summer music of the holidays a couple of weeks ago, hosted by Polly. There was quite a large group of us, and using our usual 'lucky dip' method of selecting the music for the evening, this is what we played:

• Theme from Blackadder' by Howard Goodall
• 'Tango Ballad' from 'The Threepenny Opera' by Kurt Weill
• 'Polka' from 'Jazz Suite No. 1' by Shostakovich
• 'English Dance No. IV' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Crown Imperial' by William Walton
• 'Elizabethan Serenade' by Ronald Binge
• 'Scottish Dance No. 3' by Malcolm Arnold
• 'Sinfonia' from 'Pulcinella' by Stravinsky
• 'Cantique de Jean Racine' by Faure
• 'Overture Miniature' from 'The Nutcracker' by Tchaikovsky
• 'Menuetto' from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
• 'Shepherd's Hey' by Percy Grainger

Phew! Once we'd played that lot we had really earned our feast! Thanks to Polly for a wonderful evening...next up is Judy!

Concert 6th December

Our winter concert was a great success...we had a small, but very appreciative, audience including some new faces...and enjoyed a wonderful evening of music-making. If you weren't there...here's what you missed:

Programme

'Mack the Knife' from 'The Threepenny Opera' – Kurt Weill (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Tango Ballad' from 'The Threepenny Opera' – Kurt Weill (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

'Plaisir d'Amour' – Martini (Arr. H. Brammer)

Penny (Flute); Margaret ('Cello) & Imogen (Piano)

'Vivace & Allemande Allegro' from Sonata in F major – Schickhardt

Heather (Flute); Imogen (Treble Recorder); Annabel (Oboe); Margaret ('Cello) & Joan (Piano)

'Sarabande' (from '11^th Suite') – Handel (Arr. H. Brammer)

Judy (Flute); George, Maureen (Treble Recorders); Theresa, Dermot (Clarinets); Kath, John (Violins); & Mike (Bassoon)

 'Adagio ma non tanto & Allegro' from Sonata in F – J. S. Bach

George (Treble Recorder) & Joan (Piano)

'1920's Ragtime Bassoons' – Mike Walton

Mike (Bassoon); Helen (Bass Clarinet); Margaret ('Cello); & Diana (Double Bass)

'Rondeaux – Allegretto' from 'Kegelstatt Trio' – Mozart

Helen (Clarinet); Polly (Viola); & Angela (Piano)

'Let It Snow!/Winter Wonderland' (Arr. James Hayes)

Heather (Flute); Annabel (Oboe); Theresa, Dermot (Clarinets); & Mike (Bassoon)

'Les Patineurs (The Skaters)' – Waldteufel (Arr. H. Brammer)

The Broken Consort

I've been uploading all of the videos of the performances to our YouTube Channel...in fact that's the reason for the delay in posting this...I was waiting until I'd done them all, but had rather a lot of problems uploading the last couple of files, but I think that's fixed now, and I shall be uploading the last video tonight...click here to go stright to our channel.

Of course there was an after-concert party, hosted by Angela & Mike (thank you!), where much delicious food (and drink!) was consumed...and most exciting of all...I was presented with the most fabulous gift for us all:
 

Broken Consort pencils!

I shall be handing these out to everyone at the start of next term...now there'll be no excuse for not having a pencil handy!  

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all of you...I'll be back after our first class of next term on January 10th 2013.

Class - November 29th

This was the last class before our end of term concert, so there was lots to do! We put the finishing touches to our full ensemble pieces ('Mack the Knife', 'Tango Ballad' and 'Les Patineurs'), then whizzed through the small group items...we even had time for a few 'just for fun' pieces too!

Here's what we played:

• 'Kegelstatt Trio' by Mozart - Helen, Polly & Angela 
• 'Plaisir d'amour' by Martini - Penny, Margaret & Imogen 
• Sonata in F major by Schickhardt - Heather, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• 'Sarabande' from 'Suite 11' by Handel - Judy, George, Maureen, Dermot, Kath, John & Mike
• 'Let it Snow/Winter Wonderland' (Arr. James Hayes) - Heather, Annabel, Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• 'Orpheus Fantasy' by Offenbach (Arr. Jan van der Goot) - George, Maureen, Judy, Helen, Kath, John, Polly & Angela
• 'Sleigh Ride' by Leroy Anderson (Arr. Jan van der Goot) - George, Maureen, Judy, Helen, Kath, John, Polly & Angela
• ;Let It Snow' by Sammy Cahn (Arr. Jan van der Goot) - George, Maureen, Judy, Helen, Kath, John, Polly & Angela

Class - November 22nd

We're into the final preparations for our end of term concert now...the large ensemble pieces ('Les Patineurs' (by Waldteufel), 'Mack the Knife' and 'Tango Ballad' (by Kurt Weill) are sounding good...and we were busy practising lots of the smaller group pieces too.

Small group items:

• 'Kegelstatt Trio' by Mozart - Helen, Polly & Angela 
• 'Plaisir d'amour' by Martini - Penny, Margaret & Imogen 
• 'Let it Snow/Winter Wonderland' (Arr. James Hayes) - Heather, Annabel, Theresa, Dermot & Mike
• Quintet in F by Pepusch - George, Maureen, Judy, Kath, John & Joan

Class - 15th November

Ooops...totally forgot to do this (again!).
With the concert only a couple of weeks away, everything is coming together nicely...and we even managed to get through the opening section of 'Les Patineurs' without me stamping my foot to keep us in time! 

Small group items:

• '1920's Ragtime Bassoons' by Mike Walton - Mike, Helen, Margaret & Diana
• Sonata in F major by Schickhardt - Heather, Imogen, Margaret & Joan
• 'Sarabande' from 'Suite 11' by Handel - Judy, George, Maureen, Dermot, Kath, John & Mike
• 'Allegro molto' by Beethoven (Arr. H. Brammer) - Penny, Polly, Theresa & Angela

Class & AGM - 8th November

We were at full capacity at last week's class...we even had another prospective new member (Maureen on treble recorder) too! So, we were able to make good progress with our full group pieces...and also managed to whizz through lots of the small ensemble items for next month's concert before a record-breaking AGM - all done in 15 minutes...perhaps aided by some yummy belgium chocolates!

Small group items:

• 'Kegelstatt Trio' by Mozart - Helen, Polly & Angela
• 'Five Gershwin Melodies for Four Woodwinds' (Arr. Denwood ) - Heather, Diana, Theresa & Mike
• 'Sarabande' from 'Suite 11' by Handel - Judy, George, Maureen, Dermot, Kath, John & Mike
•  Sonata in F major by Schickhardt - Heather, Imogen, Annabel & Joan
• 'Plaisir d'amour' by Martini - Penny, Margaret & Imogen

Class - 1st November

Well...I didn't expect to spend the whole evening sat at a piano, but as we were (almost) pianist-less at last Thursday's class, that's what happened! Despite my best efforts to distract everyone with my piano playing...(well I was reading the parts off the score...with many, many pages!)...we managed to rehearse everthing, although it did sound rather 'empty' in places, as we were missing rather a lot of players.

Small group items:

• Boismortier Sonata in D minor & Corelli 'Air & Dance' - Penny, John, Theresa, Dermot & Helen
• J. C. Bach Quintet in C major - Heather, Judy, Kath, Polly, Margaret & Imogen

In other news...it's our AGM during the next class.

Class - 18th October

We were a rather depleted group at last night's class...but we battled on regardless with final versions of 'Les Patineurs' by Waldteufel, and 'Tango Ballad' & 'Mack the Knife' from Weill's 'Threepenny Opera' ...with all the expression and articulation added.

Small group items:

• Concerto in A minor by Vivaldi - Imogen, Kath, Diana & Angela
• Trio Sonata in D minor by Schwartzkopff - Penny, Judy & Joan
• 'Tritsch-Tratsch Polka' by Johann Strauss (Arr. Holcombe & Holcombe Jnr.) - Helen, Theresa, Dermot & Mike

It's our half-term break next week, so our next class will be on November 1st.

Class - 11th October

We had some more new ensemble music at last Thursday's class...which is always exciting...another Kurt Weill song...'Mack the Knife' (from the 'Threepenny Opera')...and the other two pieces are progressing well.

Small group items:

• Sonata in F major by Schickhardt - Heather, Imogen, Annabel & Joan
• Concerto in A minor by Telemann - Penny, Judy, Polly, Theresa, Kath, John, Dermot & Angela
• '1920's Ragtime Bassoons' by Mike Walton - Mike, Helen, Margaret & Diana

In other news...the videos on our YouTube Channel..went over 3000 views this week! 

Class - 4th October

Oops...just realised that I hadn't written about last Thursday's class!

We carried on working 'Les Patineurs' and the 'Tango Ballad'...although we were a couple of members down - I knew it was too good to last! There should be some more new music for the next class...

Small group items:

• Trio Sonata in G minor by Corelli - Kath, John, Theresa, Mike & Joan
• Sonata da camera in Bb major by Janitsch - George, Imogen, Judy, Maragret & Angela
• Concerti for Five Flutes by Boismortier - Heather, Penny, Diana, Polly & Helen

Class - 27th September

We had a full house at this week's class...which is almost unheard of for so early in the term! We continued work on 'Les Patineurs', and also the first of a collection of songs from 'The Threepenny Opera' by Kurt Weill...'Tango Ballad'...which is something a little bit different for us.

Small group items:

• 'A Musical Joke' by Mozart (Arr. Jane Gannaway) - Penny, Judy & Dermot
• Sonata in C minor by Schickhardt - George, Imogen, Annabel, Margaret & Joan
• 'Adagio Cantabile (Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup)' by Elgar - Heather, Diana, Helen, Theresa & Mike
• Quartet in C minor by Janitsch - Kath, John, Polly & Angela