April 2026 Playing Day

On yet another lovely spring day (why does the sun always shine when we're inside playing!) 17 of us gathered ready for a day of companionable playing. Trina was conducting for the morning and early part of the afternoon.
We started with some Trina's arrangements of pieces from Purcell's Dido & Aeneas - sadly not the famous and beautiful Lament (though Trina promised Bettina that one day she would arrange that too!). They were lovely arrangements, and we especially enjoyed the challenge of 'In our Deep Vaulted Cell', where we needed to keep the volume down for the echoes (this was remarkably effective, and if we went flat, that just added to the effect).
After a short coffee break, we played an arrangement of some Haydn Fugues originally written for string quartet. With a time signature of 'cut time', the beat is 2 minims in a bar, but Trina was kind to us and beat 4 crotchets, to start with anyway! She also explained that the slur marks indicate bowing for a stringed instrument and need to be played legato (unlike the Purcell we had just played, where similar marks indicate phrasing). It certainly sounded much better when we all played the slurs as intended. We played through the 'Fugue on Two Subjects' (Oriel OL152) and had a look at the 'Fugue on Four Subjects' but decided to leave that for another day.
Trina then handed out Raymond Harvey's 'Variations on "The Flat Pavan" by John Johnson' which had been played by the branch some time ago, but maybe not by anyone present today. We made a start on the first couple of variations and then it was time for lunch.
After lunch (which was another al fresco affair, though a bit chillier than last month), we continued with the Raymond Ahrvey Variations until Delyth arrived. They were fun - a good variety of speeds, time and key signatures to keep us on our toes.
Delyth then arrived to pick up the baton, and we all thanked Trina, who sadly couldn't stay on to play. Delyth had one piece for us, but it was a good one: J.S. Bach 'Jesu Meine Freude' BWV 227, arranged in 5 parts by Alex Ayre (CRCS 321 if anyone would like to give it a try). It consisted of 5 verses and 6 chorales, and took up the rest of the afternoon. In fact, we were so immersed in it that we neglected to take the usual afternoon tea break!
We finished around 4.30, and everyone agreed that it had been an excellent day. Thank you so much to Trina and Delyth for their conducting; Mary for bringing the tea and biscuits - and everyone else for their enthusiasm and company.