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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Rehearsal for next Thursday - Cadogan Hall Concert
Today, the quartet got together at Julia’s house for the first rehearsal of some new works by contemporary English composer Philip G. W Henderson - which we will be premiering at the Cadogan Hall in London next Thursday evening, the 23rd September.
The concert is entitled ‘Penny Smith Unveils’ and features not only the two quartet [...]
Invitation to the Dance - Concert in Haddenham
Well it’s been a very busy couple of weeks as our first concert in Haddenham (near Aylesbury and Thame) is approaching fast. The concert will be on very similar lines to our other ‘popular classics’ recitals, with most of the music performed being well known classical pieces, presented in a light and informal way - [...]
