Archive for December, 2011
Carol of the Bells
This increasingly popular carol was written by a Ukranian composer called Mykola Leontovych in 1904 - like many carols, it has it’s origins in a traditional folk melody. The lyrics ‘Ring Christmas bells’ etc were added in 1947 and although Leontovych himself was shot dead in 1921, this piece has grown in worldwide popularity to [...]
I Saw Three Ships - Concert at Cuddington.
Last night we returned to play once again at St Nicholas Church in Cuddington - a village near the border between Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Having given a concert back in September in this Church, we were especially keen to return to such an enthusiastic, delightful audience. It was a beautiful, clear and frosty night with [...]
Concert at Cheddington Church, 9th December
Last night we returned once more to play a concert in St Giles Church, Cheddington. Half the proceeds from the concert were to go towards the upkeep of the Church, with the remainder going towards the Church Bell Restoration Appeal. As always, the atmosphere in the church was magical with a smell of mulled wine [...]
Party at The Grand Union, Farringdon
On Wednesday evening, the quartet were engaged to perform for a corporate function held at the Grand Union Pub in Farringdon. The event was a masked ball to celebrate the anniversary of a well known public relations company and being December had a festive theme to it, with plenty of pieces from our Christmas repertoire [...]
The Shepherds’ Farewell
The full title of Hector Berlioz’s ’The Shepherds’ Farewell’ is ‘L’Adieu des Bergers a la Sainte Famille’ (’The Shepherds Bid Farewell to the Holy Family’). It is from Part 2 of his oratorio ‘L’Enfance du Christ’ (’The Childhood of Christ’) which is a trilogy based on the holy family’s flight into Egypt.
From a musical performance point of view, [...]
Lute Book Lullaby - Sweet Was The Song the Virgin Sang
This beautiful melody is often entitled ‘Sweet Was the Song’ but is also known as the ‘Lute Book Lullaby’ as it originates from William Ballet’s collection of lute music which dates from 1600 and is now housed in the library at Trinity College in Dublin. It is an important collection that gives us an insight [...]
Concert at Totternhoe Church, Bedfordshire
Last night was the first of our Winter concert series, this time in the lovely village Church of St Giles of Provence in Totternhoe. The Church Warden had booked us for this event after attending one of our concerts in Eaton Bray Church back in the autumn and we were delighted to be asked to perform [...]
O Tannenbaum (O Fir Tree).
‘O Tannenbaum’ is a beautiful Christmas carol from Germany and although it is often translated as ‘O Christmas Tree’ a more accurate definition would be ‘O Fir Tree’. This evergreen tree has inspired many songs in Germany and it seems that this particular version was written in 1824 by Ernst Anschutz, an organist, composer and teacher [...]
