#Repost @abingdonconcertband
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St Helen’s Church, Abingdon

Can’t travel because of #Covid19? Come and journey round the world with us on the 4th April in our next concert – Windows of the world. We’ll be whisking you away to all four corners of the globe and you won’t need to worry about your carbon footprint. Tickets available now! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/windows-of-the-world-tickets-96757750035
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. #abingdon #makingmusic #oxfordshire #familyfriendly #concerts

Tonight’s Christmas Overture with @abingdonconcertband #concerts #windband #christmas????

After an early dinner of sausage and mash we headed out to Stratton Audley church where there was a free concert given by Vox Campus the Choir and Orchestra of Université d’Angers. It was marvelous and included some of our favourite pieces of music: Henry Purcell’s Overture from Fairy Queen, Dvorak’s 8th Slavonic Dance, Alexandre Borodine’s In The Steppes of Central Asia and Polovetsian Dances.

Certainly, our little band managed to get, possibly our first, standing ovation.

I have my hair cut and then return home to settle into cleaning my house. It is a good job too, as the estate agents call to say that the Mr S of Jay Close is booked into seeing my house. This is could news, as Mrs S saw the house earlier in the week, and so they must be seriously considering (the possibility of) buying mine if she is sending him along.

I have some lunch and then head off to my afternoon rehearsal – joining up with my comrades of Abingdon and Bicester Concert Bands. The massed army of 14 flutes join our two oboes and collection of clarinets on staging erected to the front of the bandstand – this makes us the only one’s left in full openness o the elements with the audience having a choice of ‘mess tents’ erected around the edge of the park like a roman camp. We top and tail the pieces before going ‘silent’ for the 4.30 wedding in The Garth.

In the time between rehearsal and concert, the rain comes down again, and when Emma arrives with Grannie, it is with some reluctance that we head off to sit in a wet park for the evening.

The rain clears though, and the sky, laden with clouds even brightens a little. Flags adorn the audience and the bandstand – the concert is glorious success – even during the second half when the rain comes down it does not dampen the audiences’ spirits. The firework finale, to Handel and Dam Buster’s is both dramatic and spectacular.

2. And if to prove that it is indeed a small world, at Thursday’s Abingdon Concert Band rehearsal we had a couple of new players; sisters, one clarinetist and one flautist. Because Sarah decided that, despite just one rehearsal, Saturday’s concert sounded like fun, we got together a complete set of music as we could from duplicates for her to look at but there were gaps, so I offered to scan the remaining ones and email them. It was then that I found out that she works for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and that she knows my aunt and uncle, who have dogs for their weekend training. Small world.

I’m hitting refresh on the Met Office forecast for Saturday. It’s looking better than it was yesterday. Still not brilliant, but with luck, we might get lucky… *crosses fingers*

Emma arrived for the concert and took her place in the audience and I trooped out with the rest of band to play our music. Suite Francais was, errm, interesting when the entire flute section lost our way. I think we would have been okay if we had come in when we had meant to but it didn’t feel right.

The concert went off okay though, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. What Emma and I didn’t enjoy so much was the drive home through abysmally wet weather. Not nice. Not fun.

Saturday morning, and I woke up in Berkshire. Emma and I drove back up to Bicester, meeting up with my parents for lunch, and – umm – not much else before I had to get changed and leave for the afternoon rehearsal. The rehearsal went well, and a little after 5 o’clock I nipped out and up the road to meet Emma and my parents at The Fishes for a bit of a meal before the concert. It transpires that I really shouldn’t leave Emma alone with my parents because of the stories that they have been telling each other about me, and ‘ganging’ on me. I want them all to get on, but honestly there’s getting on, and there’s getting on a little too much… *grins*

The concert itself was good. My first Christmas concert in the seven years that I’ve been with the band, the entire flute section tied tinsel round our instruments for added shininess and we had a mixture of words and music to start off Christmas: Leroy Anderson’s Christmas Festival and Sleigh Ride and a fiendishly difficult but effective arrangement of The Nutcracker for Christmas cheer; a sprinkling of the fiendishly difficult and actually not all that interesting arrangement of John Williams’ music for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for that Christmas Day afternoon; and a nice serving of carols (the audience will stand and sing.

All too soon it was over; Mum and Dad headed back to the New Forest and Emma and I headed home…

featuring…
Stage Centre — GOFF RICHARDS (b. 1944)
Andante Cantabile — PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Serenade Op.44 — ANTONIN DVORAK (1841–1904)
Singin’ in the Rain — NACIO HERB BROWN (1896–1964)
Prelude, Siciliano & Rhondo — Sir MALCOLM ARNOLD (b. 1921)
On the Quarterdeck — KENNETH ALFORD (1881–1945)
Sandpaper Ballet — LEROY ANDERSON (1908–1975)
The Grasshoppers’ Dance — ERNEST BUCALOSSI (1863–1929)
Suite Française — DARIUS MILHAUD (1892–1974)
Il postino — LUIS BACALOV (b. 1933)
Gallimaufry — GUY WOOLFENDEN (b. 1937)

Tickets £6 (£5 concessions)
and cds of past concerts will be on sale on the night