 11 of us started the day gently with the usual cuppa and chat. Then Caroline took charge and split us into 2 for our first piece - 'Nu Komm der Heyden Heyland', by Samuel Scheidt. This is a 2-choir piece in 4/2 time so challenged some of us right from the beginning, playing (and counting) one to a part. (Mirjam translated this as:
This was followed by a coffee break and the Branch AGM (for which minutes will circulated to members in due course). The AGM finished around 12.10 leaving just enough time to tackle our next piece before lunch, an arrangement by Mirjam of Peter Maxwell-Davies' 'Farewell to Stromness'. Some tricky rhythms in the bass part, for which Mirjam rightly blamed the original composer. It was a lovely piece, and nicely arranged :) After lunch, Caroline handed out a double-sided sheet of music, with the Kyrie Eleison from Bach's B minor mass on one side, and an unbarred piece by Palestrina on the other. Bettina liked the look of the Palestrina but was outvoted (though we did have a chaotic attempt at the Palestrina later on). The Bach was beautiful however, and we managed a fairly good rendition after a bit of practice. After a short coffee break, we ended with the 'Caprice' for Recorder Orchestra by Marg Hall - a lively first movement, and beautiful slow second.
Thanks to Caroline for conducting the whole day. We need that conducting workshop to recruit some new volunteers!
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 We started the new SRP year year with a relatively quiet meeting, around a dozen players. In this 500th anniversary year of the birth of Palestrina, Delyth started us off with a couple of pieces by that composer, ‘Tu es Petrus’ arranged for 6 parts by Alex Ayre, and ‘Sicut cervus’. Trina followed with a set of pieces by Walter Bergmann, ‘Accent on Rhythm’ in which the rhythms gradually became more complex as we progressed through the set. We did reach the final one, with a lot of tips from Trina!
After lunch Delyth took us back to the Renaissance with a piece by William Byrd, ‘Fantazia a 4’. We ended with piece by a composer who died 400 years ago this year, Orlando Gibbons: another arrangement by Alex Ayre of ‘What is our life?’ A surprisingly large number of us (18 by my reckoning) met for the last playing day before the autumn. Unfortunately Caroline was ill, so Mirjam arrived with arms full of music which she hadn't had a chance to look at, and the prospect of conducting the entire day! Fortunately though, Delyth also came along, and offered to conduct the late morning session.
Mirjam kicked off with a short piece, 'Abendlied' (Evening Song), by Josef Rheinberger. This was written in 1855 when the composer was 15, though not published as a revised edition until almost 20 years later. As usual for a piece written for voice, Mirjam asked us to take particular note of the breath marks. We continued with a lovely set of pieces 'German Suite' by Eileen Silcocks, in which each part was played by a high and low instrument (i.e. Descant and Tenor, Alto and Bass, Tenor and Great bass, Bass and Contra bass). We were still getting to grips with this by coffee time, so put it aside to come back to later. After a short break, Delyth led us swiftly through 'Dances from "Der Lustgarten"' by Hans Leo Hassler, after which we were all ready for lunch. After lunch, we continued the Eileen Silcocks suite which everyone really enjoyed. A quick break for tea, then we finished the day with 'Variatonen uber "Der Winter ist vergangen"' by Heinz Joachim Zander. We enjoyed our day of German music-making :). Thank you so much to Mirjam for stepping in at such short notice, and to Delyth for taking one of the sessions too. We all wish Caroline a speedy recovery! Little did we know the mental challenges in store for us as we slowly gathered and chatted over cups of tea and coffee. Caroline started us off fairly gently with one of Steve Marshall's Jazzy Blues pieces. It was quite a workout for the lower instruments though, especially trying to maintain the speed Caroline wanted, and certainly got us warmed up. Delyth was playing contrabass, on which part Steve comments '(Optional), but it adds a great deal' - and it certainly did! Caroline then handed out a piece by Machaut 'Ma fin et mon commencement', which Sarah Jeffery had included in her 'Palindromes and Musical Games' session at the SRP festival. In 3 parts, it seemed quite straightforward on first play-through. However she then had us play different parts backwards, quite difficult unless you're in the habit of practicing playing backwards (which Caroline tells us she frequently does, as a technique for practicing difficult passages). With a lot of concentration, we managed a reasonable performance by the end. For anyone interested in trying this again, you can download it from IMSLP here. After a tea break, Mirjam picked up the baton with a piece also discovered at the SRP festival in a session led by Chris Orton, called 'Polegnala e Todora'. This is a Bulgarian folk song with a time signature of 11/16 which she had arranged for SATB. Mirjam first demonstrated how she would conduct it and then led us through a set of exercises gradually building up to the full piece. If you're interested, there are several YouTube recordings of the song and more information including the lyrics - just search for the title. Unfortunately I had to leave at lunchtime, so I don't know what Trina and Delyth had in store for the remaining players in the afternoon. I'm sure it was enjoyable though, and if anyone would like to fill me in, I will update this! [email protected]. Around 15 of us gathered on yet another beautiful sunny day to play together. We were joined by Lesley Chapman from the Cheltenham & Gloucester branch, who was to conduct us in the afternoon. First though, Caroline kicked off the day with 2 beautiful Renaissance pieces:
After a short break, Mirjam continued with another 2 movements from the Corelli Concerto Grosso we started last month. When we stopped for lunch, Lesley re-organised our seating, so that the basses sat in the middle next to the descants, with altos at one end and tenors the other. She explained that this was her preferred format, so that we could all hear the basses - and altos and tenors face each other so can also hear each other. Everyone can hear the descants of course! After an enjoyable al fresco lunch, she led us expertly through the following pieces:
Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole day. Thanks as usual to all our conductors, and a special thanks to Lesley for coming over to Wales; we hope you will come again! Just under 20 people elected to stay indoors and play recorders on this beautiful spring day (although a few left after the morning session). Caroline started us off with a run through the pieces for the Tudor & Stuart Dance Workshop in May. There was much discussion about what would happen about repeating sections, and how fast we should play to accommodate the dancers. Delyth and Julie gave us a quick demonstration of some dance steps to get an idea of speed. Regarding repeats though, it was concluded that we'd just have to wait and see how things work out on the day. So, note for the day: be prepared to be flexible, watch Caroline and DON'T SLOW DOWN AT THE END! After a tea break, Mirjam conducted us in a Concerto Grosso by Corelli (Op 6 No 3) arranged by Moira Usher. Deceptively simple, Mirjam explained how this lovely piece relies on good articulation and precise timing, and managed to get us playing reasonably together by lunchtime! In the afternoon, Trina kicked us off with 'The Lord Zouche's Maske' by Giles Farnaby, arranged by Paul Clark. This piece has some quite fast passages in all parts, although mostly scalic. After an inital play through, where most of us blanched at the sight of all the semi-quavers and gave up, she took individual parts through their fast passages, demostrating there was nothing to be scared of, and by the end we were mostly coping! Trina followed this with an arrangement of 'Red Rose Rag' by Percy Wenrich which was fun. Delyth continued with another ragtime piece from the same collection, and then handed out a 2-choir piece to finish the day: 'Hor che la nuova e vaga primavera' by Roland de Lassus. Unfortunately we had to be out of the hall promptly as another group needed to set up for the next event, so only had time to play this piece through quickly. It deserves another try when we have more time. As always, thank you to all the conductors for the day: Caroline, Mirjam, Trina and Delyth - and a special thank you to Delyth for demonstrating some dance steps for us! Caroline was unable to make this date, at fairly short notice, so we were very grateful to Trina for taking the whole day, especially as she had not been expecting to do so. Our numbers were lower than of late, due to several regulars not being able to attend, but there were a couple of new players. We thoroughly enjoyed the choice of music and had an excellent day.
Thank you so much to Trina for leading the day! Helen Fletcher, March 2025 On Saturday 22nd February we welcomed Tabea Debus as our visiting conductor for an exciting playing day. We had been offered the use of Clarence Hall in Crickhowell for the day and for an early evening concert, when Tabea was joined by lutenist Toby Carr.
Our branch normally meets monthly in the village hall in Trecastle and averages about 25 players. We had publicised this special event quite widely and attracted visitors from Cheltenham and Gloucester, as well as more local people who do not play with us regularly, and had more than 40 keen players. Tabea began with some great warm-up exercises, which eased the nerves, and then progressed from seemingly simple to increasingly difficult pieces. She is a quite brilliant teacher, getting the best from us in a friendly and encouraging manner. The final challenge was a set of Divisions on the familiar Greensleeves theme, increasing in its complexity of timing and sheer number of notes! This piece also appeared in the concert programme in an arrangement by Tabea for recorder and theorbo. The crowds flocked in for the concert and we were treated to a magical mix of Renaissance, Baroque and Modern pieces. Some solos for recorder or for lute, theorbo or Baroque guitar, but most for duet. We revelled in music by Dowland, J.S.Bach, Ortiz and the great Anon as well as Alex Nante (b.1992) and Gareth Moorcraft (b.1990) . This concert has been named Ohrwurm (Earworm) by Tabea and certainly left us with a buzz. We are very grateful to the Trustees of Clarence Hall, who have supported us in this venture. Our thanks must also go to Caroline Jones, our Musical Director, for organizing such an inspiring day. Over and above that, we need to thank Tabea. Helen Fletcher, February 2025 We in SRP Wales are very fortunate to have acquired Caroline Jones as our Musical Director. Her energy and enthusiasm have enabled us to reach a good performing standard and we enjoyed taking part in a Christmas Celebration in Crickhowell, at Clarence Hall. Caroline directs a number of groups, from 'Rusty Recorders' through to more experienced players in Black Mountains Recorders , Mynydd Du and Craig Ddu consorts. Each group performed separately to an enthusiastic audience before joining forces for a magnificent double choir performance of Scheidt: Angelus ad Pastores ait.
This was all enhanced by the provision of mulled wine and food. We will be having another event at Clarence Hall on 22nd February when we have Tabea Debus directing our playing day. She will be performing with Toby Carr at a concert in the evening. Helen Fletcher, December 2024 Our December Playing Day was a joint event with SRP Wales, Mynydd Du, Black Mountains, Craig Ddu and Rusty Recorders groups, and was held in the Clarence Hall in Crickhowell. Each group had prepared a separate piece and there was a joint 2-choir piece for all participants. The morning was spent with each group in turn rehearsing their piece(s) and then the whole group rehearsing the 2-choir piece. At 1pm, we performed the whole programme, interspersed with Christmas carols, to an appreciative audience. This was followed by a bring & share lunch, and finally a wind-down session playing William Byrd's 'O Magnum Mysterium'. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day, and thanks are especially due to :
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AuthorClaire Halpin AuthorHelen Fletcher Archives
October 2025
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