To Drive The Cold Winter Away…
This wonderfully evocative melody is also known as ‘In Praise of Christmas’ or ‘The Praise of Christmas’. A version of this song dating from the early 17th century has the interesting title of ’A Pleasant Country New Ditty: Merrily Shewing How to Drive the Cold Winter Away’. The song is also included in that classic collection of folk [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Wedding at St Mary’s Church, Beaconsfield
On Saturday, we performed as a string duo for a wedding held in St Mary’s Church, in the Old Town of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. We were situated to the right hand side of the altar and provided half an hour of music as guests arrived.
We then played Pachelbel’s Canon in D to accompany the bridesmaid’s and bridal entrance. [...]
Wedding at Notley Tythe Barn, Buckinghamshire
This Saturday, the quartet were engaged to play for a wedding held at a venue which is very local to us - Notley Tythe Barn. We began by playing some music to create an elegant atmosphere as guests arrived. The Bride entered to Pachelbel’s Canon in D (always a favourite!) and we performed two pieces [...]
Wedding at Notley Abbey
Last Friday, we returned once again to a very local venue where we play frequently: Notley Abbey on the Buckinghamshire / Oxfordshire border. Notley Abbey has the option of holding the wedding outside if the weather is nice, but indoors if it’s at all wet. Fortunately the sun was shining and with the help of [...]
Wedding at Old Luxters Barn near High Wycombe
Last Thursday, we played for a wedding held in the beautiful venue of Old Luxters Barn which is on the border between Oxfordshire and South Buckinghamshire. Although Thursday weddings used to be uncommon, they are becoming increasingly popular as many suppliers have better availability than they would do on a peak Saturday over the summer.
This [...]
Wedding at Notley Tythe Barn near Aylesbury
This week we returned once again to play at Notley Tythe Barn which is a wedding venue very near to us in Buckinghamshire. The wedding took place on a Monday which although a rarity is rapidly becoming a more popular day of the week to get married.
We provided music as guests entered and were seated [...]
Wedding Reception at the Three Horseshoes, Radnage
Yesterday, Julia and I performed as a violin / cello duo for a wedding reception held at the Three Horseshoes in Radnage. It was a warm, sunny day and we were positioned in an enclave within the marquee which was perfect both for the drinks reception and the wedding breakfast.
We mainly played a selection of [...]
Returning to Horwood House
Last Saturday, we returned as a string duo to Horwood House which is one of our most local wedding venues in Buckinghamshire. This time the couple getting married had their service a local church at Waddesdon so we provided music for their drinks reception as well as the first hour of the wedding breakfast.
The list [...]
