Day 49 - Half term Wednesday

I had a trip to south west London today to collect some music for the CASS library. Usually if I am travelling to another part of the country I try and get something else useful done while I am in the area. I had had a request from another CASS member who wanted to try out some bass music so made plans to meet him as he lived nearby. Then last weekend I discovered that George, one of the team at Palace Band, was doing a lunchtime concert in Esher which was just a few miles from where I was headed! Brilliant! Three things all within a few miles of each other!

I made the first collection and had a cup of tea and quick chat with Michael, a very knowledgeable player particularly interested in little known repertoire for the clarinet. it was then onto lunch with Howard, an amateur player who had played at school then gave up but was persuaded by his wife to take it up again around the age of 50. The bass clarinet followed a few years later and he now enjoys playing in a local band. He is off to a course held on the Isle of Rathsaay an island off of the coast of Scotland later in April and wanted something to be able to play as part of a masterclass there. Not knowing a great deal of the bass clarinet repertoire I was charged with finding something accessible and without "too many notes to the inch"! I took some pieces that he was able to borrow. He also came to the concert that I had skilfully advertised in an earlier email!

The concert was the Kell Clarinet Quartet, made up of recent graduates from music colleges. The programme was a particularly varied mix. The opening Sevilla by Albeniz was a nod to Rocio, one of the players as she is from Seville. Next up were three early works, arranged by George, some Tallis, an anonymous 1480 piece and Viderunt Omnes by Perotin from around 1200. After two Gershwin numbers the programme finished with Piazolla's Histoire du Tango. This comes in many arrangements and this was an effective version for E flat, two B flats and bass clarinet. It would have been an excellent finish but they did do an encore and performed George's arrangement of Siman Tov, a Jewish wedding celebration piece. The programme was extremely well prepared and blend of sound was lovely so all in all it was an enjoyable concert!

The Kell Clarinet Quartet

I said a quick hello to George then set off back around the M25 before it got really bad again!

My evening harp practise session was dedicated to Jess and her mum Margaret as they are both coming to the concert on Sunday. I played at Jess and Rob's wedding in August and Jess is also honoured to be a member of my fan club. I am delighted that her mum is about to become the newest member!! The practise session was a fairly lengthy one going over all of my pieces at whatever speed they chose to be. I also ran through the accompaniments for Pat's grade 1 violin exam. They are easy on the piano and I tried the Handel Minuet on the harp. This works well so when we are happy that violin and piano is good enough for the exam we can hopefully try out the violin and harp combo! I am seeing Pat tomorrow just before the Cambridge Wind Band rehearsal.