Sharing our experiences

I am Nicky Jones and helped to organise a meeting, on behalf of the Society, to continue the discussion that a small group  started 6 months previously on the origin,  role and nature of  repertoires. The output of that original meeting is available under the Past events tab.

The current meeting comprised: Norman Harper, Andy Chadney, John Mitchell, Michael Beer, John Mitchell, Robin Field  Martin Callingham and Myself. it was held  in Jan 2016.

There was no set structure but conversation seemed to develop  quite naturally.The group worked very well together providing a splendid mix of interesting music, amusing anecdotes and good company. The ambience was one of warmth and friendliness characterized by a willingness to share thoughts and personal experiences relating to repertoire in a very open manner – and this extended to  performing various chosen pieces whilst accepting that they would be somewhat unpolished.

At a personal level, I liked the anecdotes that people shared. I thought Norman was very helpful in pointing to the value and variety inherent in  the French repertoire, for example the music of Clerambault and Boyvin. He also played a beautiful and rather reflective section from Widor’s second symphony. Robin Field also drew our attention to some interesting pieces and there was a lively discussion about the repertoire for funerals and for weddings, including the potential pitfalls!

Andrew’s demonstration of a piece from an organ book of twentieth century Russian organ music  was  fascinating  and John’s Swedish piece bringing to mind the tango theme,  was novel and exciting to hear! Michael Beer played some popular pieces from memory.

Here is a summary of most of the music played, including short samples of the music.

Person	Music	Music/sound link	Composer	Country
Robin Field	Marches des Fantômes			French
	Click here to hear a sound extract	Click music to enlarge
Norman Harper			Louis Clerabault	French  1676-1749
	Click here to hear a sound extract	Click music to enlarge
Norman Harper			Jacques Bovin	French 1649-1749
	Click here to hear a sound extract	Click music to enlarge
Michael Beer	Popular well known	Played by ear	Many
	Click here to hear a sound extract
John Mitchell	Det finns en väg till himmelen		Fredrik  Sixten
	Click here to hear a sound extract	Click music to enlarge
Andy Chadney	Opheus in the Realm of Death		Valeri Kikta	Russian 1960’s
	Click here to hear a sound extract	Click music to enlarge
Norman Harper	Symphonie No. 2 Opus 13 No 2 in D Major, 1. Praeludium  CirculareClick here to hear a sound extract		Charles-Marie Widor	French