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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!
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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 :
 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! 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 AuthorHelen Fletcher Archives
April 2025
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