Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Last Posting Dates - Christmas 2017

Last Posting Dates

To ensure you don't miss the last post before Christmas,
these are the December deadlines that Royal Mail have issued:


INTERNATIONAL

(Applies to all international airmail services)
Friday 1st December:
Africa, Middle East
Wednesday 6th December:
Asia, Cyprus, Far East, Eastern Europe
(except Czech Republic, Poland & Slovakia)
Thursday 7th December:
Caribbean, Central & South America
Friday 8th December:
Australia, Greece & New Zealand
Wednesday 13th December:
Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland
Thursday 14th December:
Canada, Finland, Sweden, USA
Friday 15th December:
Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Portugal,
Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia,
Spain, Switzerland, Belgium,
France, Ireland & Luxembourg


UK

Wednesday 20th December:
Royal Mail First Class
Thursday 21st December:
Royal Mail Special Delivery


Christmas Closing Dates

Our office will close at 12pm (midday) on Friday 22nd December and 
will re-open on Tuesday 2nd January 2018.
All orders placed online during that period will be despatched as soon as possible.
If your order is particularly urgent, please let us know and
we will prioritise despatch for Tuesday if at all possible.

Thursday, December 7, 2017


 

What's your Favourite Wind Quintet?


 

When looking for a photo of this composer smiling, this is the nearest I could find. Nevertheless there is humour and tenderness in his music, and it's a pity that it isn't heard more often. When my quintet gets together there is nearly always a moment when someone says 'Oh let's play the Milhaud!'
On a concert-giving holiday near Aix-en-Provence a couple of us tracked down his house and found it was a sub-police-station on the ring road. We bounced into the front office and asked whether it would be possible to come and play his quintet in his house. The desk-sergeant, or whatever they are called in Provence, looked completely blank. Who was this 'Milhaud' and what were these two bizarre Englishwomen on about? I believe the building has since been demolished.

Each of the seven short movements of 'La Cheminée du Roi René is a little masterpiece, with its own character, style and unexpected but delicious harmonies. It starts with a solemn village procession, followed by a gentle summer Morning Serenade. The Jugglers come along next, larking about, followed by a rather poignant dance-like 'Maousinglade'. 'Joutes sur L'Arc' is a lively jousting contest on the river Arc, followed by an energetic hunting scene, where the piccolo adds some fizz to the activity.
My favourite movement of all is the final Madrigal - Nocturne. You can imagine that all the villagers have gone home, exhausted, and the countryside is bathed in moonlight. The ending is heart-stoppingly tender.
June Emerson


https://www.juneemersonwindmusic.com/LA-CHEMINEE-DU-ROI-RENEE-score-and-parts.html

Friday, November 17, 2017

Musicans - travelling to Albania?


Not only is Albania a stunningly beautiful country but in the capital Tirana you will be sure to find a bunch of friendly musicians. The Akademie e Arteve (Academy of Arts, or Conservatoire) is at one end of the imposing boulevard right in the centre of the city.
There's a cafe outside on the south side where students and their professors hang out to talk and drink coffee between sessions. Anyone can sit at a table and say to someone nearby 'any horn players about?' Before long you'll be sure to have found a gang, and be drinking toasts. telling jokes and swapping stories.

Fatos Qerimaj (clarinet) and Edmond Sinani (violin)


Pull up a chair and make yourself at home!





Thursday, November 9, 2017

 

Mahler's Monumental One
Want to play?

 
Artistic Director Levon Parikian kicks off the Rehearsal Orchestra's 2018 London weekend series with a two-day course on Mahler's monumental Seventh Symphony.
Rehearsals take place in the afternoon on Saturday and all day on Sunday January 27th/28th, culminating in early evening open rehearsal at the Henry Wood Hall, Trinity Church Square, London SE1 4HU.
 
Applications are invited from players who are Grade 8 plus and good sight-readers (or keen to improve their sight-reading). http://www.rehearsal-orchestra.org/courses

Levon Parikian - Artistic Director
 
 
 
The Rehearsal Orchestra
http://www.rehearsal-orchestra.org
 


 

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Playing Wagner
with the stars of the future

 
 
 
The Rehearsal Orchestra
http://www.rehearsal-orchestra.org
 
The Rehearsal Orchestra is a musical charity that runs weekend and full-week orchestral courses for future professionals and serious amateurs. Since 1957, they have offered high-level training through intensive rehearsal, exploring key orchestral repertoire with prominent conductors, and professional string section leaders. This supportive, non-competitive environment allows players to grow as musicians without the pressure of concert giving. Places on every course are heavily subsidised to enable as many players as possible to benefit from the opportunities they offer.
 
 
Levon Parikian - Artistic Director
 

Review of 2017 Wagner weekend

http://seenandheard-international.com/2017/10/wagner-stars-of-the-future-shine-in-rehearsal-orchestras-gotterdammerung-act-iii/

Thursday, October 12, 2017

British Trombone Society
AGM and East Anglian Trombone Day


The Great Hall, Oundle School, PE8 4GH

Sunday November 5th 2017 from 10.00 am - 5.00 pm




 Further information from

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Celebrating 150 Years of Green


Max Abraham (1831 - 1900) 

Hidden behind the iconic green covers of Edition Peters lies a story that is fascinating, complex, at times heart-breakingly tragic, but overwhelmingly inspirational. This year Edition Peters proudly celebrates 150 years of the green cover series and here is a short version of our story.
Edition Peters was founded in 1800 in Leipzig Germany, now known as the City of Music, due to its close ties with Johann Sebastian Bach, Mendelssohn, Reger, Schumann, Wagner and of course home to the world famous Gewandhaus Orchestra. 217 years later Leipzig is a city still bursting with culture and immensely proud of its crucial place in the history of Western classical music. In the 19th century Leipzig was the centre of publishing and printing in Germany, and at the forefront of technological developments in this area, and this fact plays a crucial role in our story.
During the first 66 years of life, the company had a succession of owners and for a number of years was based in the ground floor of Mendelssohn’s house in Leipzig. By 1867 C.F. Peters, was partly owned by Max Abraham -a remarkable business visionary. Abraham was the first music publisher to adopt the new revolutionary rotary printing press, which radically reduced printing costs.
The new green Edition Peters series burst onto the market at a fifth of the price of any other other sheet music, in beautifully engraved and reliably edited scores. On day one 100 titles were released. This universal library of music transformed the availability of sheet music to musicians around the world: it was now affordable.  The first title was of course EP 1, J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier – fittingly appropriate for the city of J.S. Bach.



The success of Abraham’s vision was breathtaking. The Edition Peters green series was selling in unprecedented numbers for a music publisher, in countries all around the globe. Abraham’s motto was KĂ¼rze ist WĂ¼rze – brevity is the essence. And he certainly was a man to get things done. The releases just kept coming and coming, and by 1877 we were up to number EP1740a – Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words. Over the coming decades all the core areas of repertoire, from BurgmĂ¼ller piano studies to Lieder by Hugo Wolf and the major choral masterpieces from the great composers, were now available in the green cover.
But Max was also a scrupulously fair and generous man. When Robert Schumann’s works came out of copyright and he was about to release all his piano music, in 1881 he wrote to Clara Schumann, the piano virtuoso and composer’s widow, offering her a substantial financial gift. Abraham felt it unfair that she had not benefited fairly from her husband’s genius. She gratefully accepted.
And this is just one example of the philanthropic history of the company’s owners. This generosity of spirit from Max Abraham was also shared with his staff:  he introduced a compulsory savings scheme to which he contributed generously and started a pension scheme for employees at the company’s expense and contributed towards his staff’s tax payments. In the 1880s he was one of the first employers in Leipzig to instigate holidays and at Christmas gave a bonus to any member of staff suffering hardship.
By 1874 Max Abraham and Edition Peters were based in their grand new home in Talstrasse 10, Leipzig. Designed by Otto Bruckwald, the architect of Wagner’s Festpielhaus in Bayreuth, Talstrasse 10 was a cultural landmark in the city and many composers would visit Max Abraham and his nephew Henri Hinrichsen and his family. Their beautiful family dining room was home to many fascinating conversations with composers and evenings of music. This room has now been beautifully restored and is home to the Grieg museum.

And it is the relationship between Max Abraham, Henri Hinrichsen and Edvard Grieg which stands out as totally unique in the history of music publishing. Grieg came to refer to Abraham as his adoptive father. The warmth of their relationship is chronicled in over 400 letters between publishers and composer. Abraham ensured Grieg had financial stability throughout his lifetime, to concentrate fully on his composing. Grieg would stay with the family at Talstrasse 10 on his frequent visits to Leipzig and indeed composed sections of Peer Gynt whilst there. Grieg and his wife Nina holidayed across Europe with Abraham and later with Henri Hinrichsen and his family. Abraham paid for the land on which Grieg built his much longed-for home at Troldhaugen, Norway. All of Grieg’s works were published within the Edition Peters with immense success for both publisher and composer.
Grieg wrote to Abraham on the 100th anniversary of  the company in 1900, although Abraham was not destined to receive the letter, dying peacefully before it arrived:

… like a total picture from my inner eye, and this picture shows to me yet again the deep gratitude for the house of C.F. Peters and its dear proprietor, from which I will be imbued until my dying breath… In deepest friendship also from my wife,
Your true friend, Edvard Grieg





Henri Hinrichsen (1868-1942)

By 1933 the company was continuing to thrive under the direction of Abraham’s nephew, Henri Hinrichsen. The Edition Peters green cover series was continually developing and the company was the first to issue an Urtext publication with 1stedition of J.S. Bach’s Two Part Inventions in 1933. Henri boldly assigned the publishing rights for Arnold Schoenberg’s Five Orchestral Pieces, Mahler’s 5th and 6th Symphonies and the orchestral tone poems of Richard Strauss.
Henri continued his uncle’s philanthropic actions, donating considerable sums to charitable and cultural causes in Leipzig and the rest of Germany. However, tragedy was about to change things forever. The company was one of the first to be aranyized by the National Socialists. Henri’s two eldest sons managed to escape – Max to London where he started Peters Edition Limited in 1938. Walter made it safely to New York founded C.F. Peters Corporation.
Eleven members of the family including Henri, perished in the Holocaust, and one surviving Hinrichsen family member gave a harrowing testimony of her time in five concentrations camps at the Nuremburg trials.
Leipzig was under Russian control and C.F Peters became the East German state music publishing house. A West German company was created in 1951, in Frankfurt. Meanwhile in London and New York, Max and Walter’s companies were hard at work sustaining their family’s heritage. Max fought a potentially crippling legal case against Novello & Co who had challenged his ownership rights due to his father’s death in Auschwitz. This lead to a landmark ruling in the supreme court in his favour. By the mid 1950s Walter had made the audacious signings of John Cage and George Crumb and he was one of the first US publishers to start to market his products in post war Japan.
And throughout all of this mayhem and tragedy, the green cover series just kept on being printed, distributed and developed. In 2010 the Edition Peters Group was founded, formally bringing together the individual companies, under the shared ownership of the Hinrichsen Foundation in the UK and the heirs of Walter in the US. In October 2014, the Frankfurt company was closed down and Edition Peters Germany made an emotional return to its home city and heimat in a beautifully restored Talstrasse 10.
In 2017 we are not only celebrating the green series but the technological innovation that was behind it. Edition Peters is innovating again, and just as seriously. Using Tido's groundbreaking technology, we are releasing the very best of the series as enriched digital editions – fit for use by the next generation of musicians. Again we’ve started with piano as featured in Piano Masterworks, the first collection to appear on the Tido Music app. But this time around we're not only talking about the notation – we’ve added video tutorials and performances from world-class artists and specialists, first-class audio, brilliantly written contextual notes about the composers and their works, and some really powerful practice tools. And the best thing is that it’s all in one place. The notation is the connective tissue that links all of these wonderful elements of music together; elements that have been kept apart until now!
And just like 150 years ago, we are making this content available at an impressive rate: we’re aiming to have 100 works in the collection by the end of 2017, and that‘s only the beginning….  To find out more, visit www.tidomusicapp.com and look out for new content as other publishers start to come on board.
This article is a very short introduction to the history of Edition Peters. To find out more there are two books written by Henri Hinrichsen’s grandaughter, Irene Lawford-Hinrichsen: Music Publishing and Patronage, C.F. Peters 1800 to the Holocaust and Five Hundred Years to Auschwitz.


Linda Hawken is Managing Director of Edition Peters, Europe. She trained as a trumpet player and conductor and has worked for the company for 20 years. Currently she is based in Leipzig and works in Talstrasse 10, Leipzig, with frequent visits to the Peters office in London.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

First Impressions:

Audition Tips


by Kevin Price
(Head of Brass and Percussion,
Royal Welsh College of Music Drama)

Travel Well

Avoid travelling on the day of the audition. A night in cheap hotel or B&B is a good investment and easily outweighs the embarrassment and cost of a missed audition due to transport problems. Be careful to pack copies of your music to give to the panel and to read all audition requirements with great care, packing a copy for last-minute reference during your journey. Aim to arrive at least one hour before your allocated time in order to acclimatise and feel relaxed. Avoid excessive caffeine and sugar in the days leading up to the audition and take plenty of long walks or light exercise before the big day.


Dress well

Make sure that you dress in a way which reflects your professionalism and dedication. Wear smart clothes that you have worn before (new clothes or shoes can often feel uncomfortable and make you a little uncertain). Suits and ties for men always look good and long smart casual for ladies works well too. Low or medium heels are also recommended, as it is common to see high heels undermine efficient posture and breathing strategies on the day of a performance or audition.


Perform well

Remember that the panel wants to discover what you know, rather than what you don’t know. They will ask you questions which are always intended to relax you and to discover what you are like as a person and as a musician. Try to be open, to smile and to take time to answer questions thoughtfully. Prepare your own questions too, as the panel want to see your enthusiasm and to gain an understanding of your aims and long-term goals.

Audition requirements vary greatly between colleges, with some asking for “set works” and others offering a “free choice” of repertoire. Choose from the “set works”, selecting pieces that you are comfortable with. It is important to offer two pieces which contrast in style and that are of at least Grade 8 standard. You do not necessarily need to choose pieces which are technically demanding. It is best to select repertoire which you can play comfortably and which shows off your musicality.

Remember that the 10-15 minutes of your audition potentially represents the first stage of your College course, therefore the panel generally views the audition as part of the “learning process” and as an opportunity to provide you with constructive feedback and advice. We are looking for “learning people” who respond to advice and constructive criticism, as opposed to a “perfect” performance on the day.


The 'S' words

Scales are the “alphabet” of music. They build brain patterns and physical reflexes that enable us to respond instinctively to the written suggestions of composers. Not all colleges ask for scales in auditions, but a working knowledge of the Grade 8 scale requirements will do you no harm. The confidence that scale preparation gives you will also help to develop a better ability to deal with the other “S” word: sight-reading. When looking at sight-reading, take your time and pay attention to details of tempo (candidates usually play too fast when under pressure) and musical moods. Details of articulation and note-lengths are commonly overlooked, along with dynamics. Try not to focus solely upon “the notes”, but always aim to convey the emotion and moods of the music. My peripatetic teacher at school always said “You are allowed to make mistakes, but you are not allowed to be boring!”

(Grant Jameson, winner of the BBC Young Brass Award 2015)

Although brief, I sincerely hope that this advice will help you to feel more relaxed 
on the big day. Remember - we want you to do well and we are here to help,
rather than to judge you.

If you are organised and work hard, you can achieve anything.
Good luck!


LINKS





Thursday, September 21, 2017

Which Horn?

Bob Ashworth - Principal Horn Opera North
The perennial question – which horn should I be playing on? – and its follow up questions - will it make things easier and/or make things sound better. OK, I reckon I make a reasonable sound on whichever instrument I play on but it’s nice to ring the changes sometimes and think outside the box.
I come around to these questions time and time again even though I’ve been known as a ‘diehard’ Alexander 103 player since college days. However this perception is not entirely true as I’ve spent long periods of time on Yamaha horns (models 665G and 667), Conn (nickel silver 8D), a goldbrass  Alexander 403S and dabbled from time to time with my Paxman (old-style goldbrass model 40L – bought from Mike Purton many moons ago) usually when there’s something high like Handel’s ‘Julius Caesar’.

More recently I bought a Holton 181 (goldbrass standard double) in an attempt to have a fuller, richer sound. This went very well for Ein Heldenleben and Janacek’s opera ‘Jenufa’. But, for the Ring operas of recent years I played the Alex 403S. 
Still the quandary remains. Having done a reasonably decent job of Britten’s ‘Billy Budd’ at this year’s Aldeburgh Festival (on the Paxman) I’m now favouring it for general use – for various reasons - full sound, ease, useful alternative fingerings. Looking back now I wish I’d done the ‘Siegfried’ Horn Call on this instrument for more security and ease (but not necessarily for the F alto side!).

The quandary continues as a mouthpiece also needs to be matched to whichever horn one chooses and I have found that this may change over time depending on one’s physical/mental state and the desired horn sound for certain repertoire. For instance I’ll probably go back to the Holton 181 for the imminent performances of Janacek’s ‘Osud’ which has great horn parts. It needs a generous sound (perhaps of a Viennese nature) and I’ll be using a Klier S3 mouthpiece which suits this horn and repertoire very well. On the Paxman 40 I’m currently on a PHC H23A.
All of this may well be a bit ‘over the top’ as many players stick with one horn and one mouthpiece (or one mouthpiece for whichever horn they play)  for years for ‘comfort’ and ‘security’ (i.e. familiarity) – which, of course, are ‘must have’ facets to successful horn playing. However, if you keep an open mind and put in the right preparation it is certainly possible to play different horns and mouthpieces and make your horn playing even more interesting and please note I haven’t even mentioned the natural horn and Vienna horn options……đŸ˜‰ Of course the added bonus of playing all one’s horns regularly (if you’re lucky to have more than one) is that it avoids the problem of the valves seizing up out of neglect!

Wishing all horn playing readers fun and stress-free horn playing!

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Samek Music News



by Victoria Soames Samek
(Acclaimed clarinettist and publisher)

 
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Clarinet & Saxophone Classics, I am excited to announce that the company has expanded. To reflect this expansion we have rebranded the company.

Samek Music is now the home for Clarinet & Saxophone Classics CDs downloads and our publications to which all printed sheet music is now available through our new collaboration with June Emerson Wind Music.

In addition the company is now offering educational and musical opportunities. I will be offering lessons and mentoring, lectures and group coaching, written and spoken educational blogs, master-classes and performances.


 Samek Music is now the ultimate resource for clarinet &  saxophone players and all music enthusiasts.





Thursday, August 31, 2017

2017 Launchpad Prize Winners #3

Introducing...

Aesthesia Saxophone Quartet

(Royal College of Music)



The Players

Jonathan Vaux - soprano sax
Daniel Scott - alto sax
Stephanie Frankland - tenor sax
Ashley Brand - baritone sax

Biography

The London based Aesthesia Saxophone Quartet is an award-winning chamber ensemble from the Royal College of Music, studying under Kyle Horch. Despite having only recently formed in September 2016, the members (Jonathan Vaux, Daniel Scott, Stephanie Frankland and Ashley Brand) have developed a strong affinity with one another, and this is apparent through their communicative approach to performance.At the 2017 Nordic Saxophone Festival in Aarhus, Denmark, the Aesthesia Quartet performed in a masterclass with Evgeni Novikov, following which they were asked to also give an evening recital. Closer to home, they were given the opportunity to play in a masterclass led by Melanie Henry.Recently, the group were awarded the June Emerson Launchpad Prize in the Royal College of Music’s Woodwind Chamber Competition and are supported by Talent Unlimited.

June Emerson Wind Music would like to thank Alice Kelley for organising 
the awarding of the Launchpad Prize at the Royal College of Music.

Links

Aesthesia Saxophone Quartet

Royal College of Music

Thursday, August 24, 2017

2017 Launchpad Prize Winners #2

Introducing...

Chameleon Wind Quintet

(Royal Northern College of Music)



The Players

Anna Murphy - flute
George Strickland - oboe
Jessica Tomlinson - clarinet
Joshua Jones - saxophone
Eleanor Mills - bassoon

Biography

Formed in October 2016, Chameleon is a group of musicians who met at the RNCM in Manchester. United by their ability to double/triple, they formed a group where each member performs on multiple instruments, often within the same piece.
As there is no existing repertoire for Chameleon, we do our own arrangements (though we would love to collaborate with orchestrators/arrangers/composers for future projects!). This means we can push the boundaries of typical wind ensembles, and can experiment with new combinations of wind instruments.
We base our set-up on a traditional wind quintet, replacing French Horn with Saxophone, and each member is principally one of the other four instruments - Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon. Our unique range of doubling instruments also means we can transform from a wind quintet to a sax group during a piece.
We have a keen interest in performance and outreach, bringing our music to other people in both the concert hall and in the community.


June Emerson Wind Music would like to thank Suzy Stonefield for organising 
the awarding of the Launchpad Prize at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Links

Chameleon Wind Quintet


Royal Northern College of Music

Thursday, August 17, 2017

2017 Launchpad Prize Winners #1

Introducing...

Coburn Saxophone Quartet

(Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama)



The Players

Sarah Knight - soprano sax
Sarah Smith - alto sax
Megan Davies - tenor sax
Amber Reeve - baritone sax

Biography

Formed in 2015 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Coburn Quartet are an energetic and upcoming female saxophone ensemble based in Cardiff. We are a close group of friends and colleagues who enjoy rehearsing and performing together. Our experience includes events ranging from concert recitals to private engagements. With our extensive set list varying from jazz and pop to concert repertoire, we are available to hire for all events and functions throughout the UK. We are extremely thankful for the continued support and specialist coaching from many industry professionals.



June Emerson Wind Music would like to thank Kevin Price for organising 
the awarding of the Launchpad Prize at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Links

Conurn Saxophone Quartet

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Friday, August 11, 2017

The June Emerson Wind Music Launchpad Prize 2017

About the Prize

The Launchpad Prize was an idea that began as a desire to help young musicians in some significant way. With our limited financial resources it was difficult to come up with something that would make enough of a difference to make it worthwhile. The idea of sponsoring a prize at one of the UK music colleges was something we just couldn’t afford, and we also felt that we’d like to be able to offer something to more than just one college and be a little more ‘hands on’. We eventually decided that we would assist one predominantly final year wind ensemble from each of the major UK music colleges to launch themselves onto the professional circuit.

First awarded in 2009, the Launchpad Prize consists of practical help, including:a substantial JEWM music voucher; dedicated space on the JEWM website; publicity at any time through our online media channels (JEWM blog, Twitter, Facebook etc); editorial coverage wherever possible; unlimited free advertising flyers in JEWM music orders in order to publicise themselves; exclusive access to the JEWM shop with use of all music and facilities; complimentary copies of any existing and future Emerson Edition publications which fit their instrumental line-up, and anything else we can think of.

The 2017 Winners!

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Coburn Saxophone Quartet

Royal Northern College of Music
Chameleon Wind Quintet

Royal College of Music
Aesthesia Saxophone Quartet

Profiles of each of this year's winners will appear on this blog over the coming weeks...

Friday, July 7, 2017

Wonderful Winds Flute Days 2017


Two days of Flute Ensemble fun

for players of all ages and abilities


with Mel Orriss & Joss Campbell


Saturday 19th August 2017

Suitable for novice/intermediate players and rusty returners!
(Approx. Grade 1 - 5)

Sunday 20th August 2017

Suitable for more confident or advanced players.
(Approx. Grade 5 - Diploma)

Venue

The Ockment Centre
North Street
Okehampton
Devon EX20 1AR

Tickets

Adults:
£35.00 one day/£60.00 weekend
Under 18s:
£25 one day/£40.00 weekend
(Two bursaries are available - see link for further information)

Information and Bookings:

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

What Do Bassoonists Have in Common with a No.52 Bus?

by Graham Sheen
former Principal Bassoon, BBC Symphony Orchestra & 
Academy of St Martin in the Fields,
teacher, composer & arranger.

Apologies if you have heard this in a slightly different version, but the answer is that first you don't see any and then they turn up in bunches. And there will be a bunch of twelve assorted bassoon students and professors giving a concert at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on July 7th at 1.00pm in the Music Hall. ADMISSION IS FREE and all are most welcome to our wide-ranging programme of both arrangements and original works, spanning music of four centuries and from the serious to the frivolous.

At Guildhall we have long had a tradition of the bassoon department presenting an end of year recital, though it has never been possible, owing to an ever more crowded events calendar, to hold one every year. We hope that as a result of timetabling bassoon ensemble playing on a regular basis and the support of Head of Department, Richard Benjafield, the bassoon department show will become annual treat.

It’s often said that Bach is indestructible, a claim which we be challenging with a performance of the first movement of the third Brandenburg Concerto (9 bassoons and contra). The central work will be the marvellous Triangulation by Richard Bissill (7 bassoons and contra), a beautifully conceived and brilliant balanced three movement piece which has deservedly established itself as a bassoon classic. Interspersed will be some of Michael Norris’s Bagatelles for trio and some new transcriptions for large ensemble of Rameau, Lotti and Gabrieli’s Sonata Pian e Forte. Our traditional finale will be, as always, Leroy Anderson’s Bassoonist’s Holiday, once mistakenly called Bugler’s Holiday.

That date again: July 7th at 1.00pm in the Music Hall of GSMD, Silk Street, Barbican.

LINKS


Guildhall School of Music & Drama