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 [...]
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear…..
The fourth carol on the album ‘It Came Upon The Midnight Clear and other carols’ is the title track itself. The words of this carol were written in 1849 by the Unitarian minister Edmund Sears from Massachusetts and these words spawned two separate melodies. In the United States it is widely known set to a [...]
Concert at St Nicholas Church, Cuddington
On Friday the 16th of September, we performed for the first time at the beautiful church of St Nicholas, Cuddington. Although Cuddington is very near to Haddenham where we have played before, it was exciting to be giving a recital in a new village - and we hoped that people who had seen us at [...]
Concert at St Mary’s Church, Eaton Bray
Last Saturday, we were really delighted to return to the beautiful rural church of St Mary’s in Eaton Bray - a village about 7 miles away from home. The quartet had played there last year, giving a recital of music from various countries on a theme of ‘Travellers Tales’. This time, the concert was on [...]
Concert at West End House, Cheddington
Last Sunday, Adrian Smith (Viola) and I gave an intimate concert in the garden of a local private house - the event was held jointly in aid of the St Giles Church Bell Restoration Fund and Cancer Research UK. Although there are many ‘picnic concerts’ of classical music which involve a full sized orchestra, this [...]
Friday the 13th May - Concert in St Giles Church
On Friday, we gave our summer concert in our local village Church (St Giles, Cheddington). It was once again a real highlight of our musical year with such a warm and appreciative audience of around 70 people, many of whom are our friends and neighbours and some who come from further afield.
The theme of the [...]
Concert at the Red Hedgehog, Highgate
Last Sunday the 8th of May, we played for the first time at the intimate North London chamber music venue - The Red Hedgehog. The Red Hedgehog is named after the 19th century coffee house ‘Zum Roten Igel’ - a favourite social venue for composers such as Brahms, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The recital we gave [...]
Birthday Party at Le Gothique
Last Saturday, Adrian and I performed as a duo at the interesting location of Le Gothique restaurant and bar which is part of the Royal Victoria Patriotic building in Wandsworth common.
The courtyard was partly covered by a canvas which allows guests to mingle outdoors regardless of the weather. This also meant that we were able [...]
Recordings start next week……
After three months of fairly continuous arranging work, we’re virtually there with the carols for the second volume to be released in time for Christmas 2011. With the daffodils out and the beautiful spring sunshine, it seems strange to be recording pieces like ‘See Amidst the Winter’s Snow’, but with all the production, design, replication [...]
Friends of Torbay Music Weekend
On Sunday 21st November, we were invited to give a recital for the final evening of the 41st Friends of Torbay Music Weekend. The Friends of Torbay are a group of like minded music lovers who gather together every year at the Palace Hotel in Torquay to enjoy a series of lectures, discussions, recitals and [...]
