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20 people attended our November playing day. The morning was spent practicing our pieces for the December concert in Crickhowell, and some Christmas carols. In the afternoon, Delyth and Trina conducted - though I'm not sure what pieces as I wasn't there!
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Our October playing day was again very well attended - although this isn't reflected in the photos which were taken in the afternoon after several people had left (mental note to take photos in the morning in future... and try to get everyone into one photo; I have a lot to learn!). We started the morning with the 2-choir piece that we're rehearsing for our joint playing day / concert in December: 'Angelus ad Pastores Ait' by Samuel Scheidt. This involves some tricky time signature changes, but Caroline guided us through these and we were getting there by the end of the first session. After coffee, this was followed by 'Morning Mist' by Sylvia Corinna Rosin. Another tricky piece with all parts playing different rhythm. We are improving, but need to work on everyone (within Bass and Tenor parts especially) playing notes exactly on the beat (whatever that beat might be!). During lunch we were entertained with a rehearsal by the quintet Mynydd Du for their performance at Greener Abergavenny the following day. Good luck all! After lunch Trina conducted us, easing us back into playing with Vaughan Williams 'Prelude on the hymn tune rhosymedre', arranged by Paul Clark, then upping the ante with Telemann's 'Four Friday Piece' and Scott Joplin's 'Magnetic Rag'. After a short coffee break, Delyth took over and gave us some more practice in counting minims and changing time signatures with Giovanni Gabrieli's 'Canzon Septimi Toni'. Finally we ended the day with Lyndon Hilling's 'A swing in the park'. Phew! It was an excellent and varied day's playing. As usual, many thanks to all our conductors for their hard work. Our September playing day was well attended, with almost 20 of us attending some or all of the day. We started with a new 2-choir piece which Caroline would like us to perform at our joint playing day / concert in December: 'Angelus ad Pastores Ait' by Samuel Scheidt. This was followed by the tricky 'Morning Mist' by Sylvia Corinna Rosin, where all the parts play different rhythms so there's lots of potential for going horribly wrong. If we can perfect this by December, we will also be playing it at the concert. Music for the concert was provided to take home (and practice!). Our AGM was held just before lunch. Key points from the meeting were:
In a complete change of pace, Delyth then conducted 'Plorate filii Israel' from the oratorio 'Jephte' by Giacomo Carissimi. After a tea break, we finished off with Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite arranged by Stanley Taylor, again conducted by Delyth. Many thanks to all our conductors for the day, and in particular, to Delyth for her dedication to the branch as musical director for many years. Thank you so much Delyth!
In June we enjoyed a very special playing day led by Mary Tyers (below) , who made the journey all the way from Durham to be with us. Mary will be a tutor at HISS and NORVIS summer schools this year: visit our 'other events' page for details. |
AuthorClaire Halpin Archives
November 2024
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