The first concert of the Phoenix Recorder Orchestra was on Saturday 3rd July 2004 at the Prince Michael Hall, Dean Close School, Cheltenham. The programme was:
Folk Song Suite (Vaughan Williams)
The Wind In The Pine Tree (Anon)
Concerto in F (Marshall) treble soloist Shirley Jee
Canzon Septimi Toni (Gabrieli)
O Mater Mundi (Mundy)
Fantasias I and II (Gibbons)
24 Steps (Paul Burnell)
Pavane (Fauré)
Suite for Recorders (Walton)
The Lone Ar-Ranger (Philip Buttall)
Guests were the Bristowe Consort, who played the Cat’s Fugue (Scarlatti), and madrigals by Verdelot and Lassus.
The concert was sold out, and the audience was very appreciative. There were quite a lot of recorder players present (some of whom had come all the way from Bristol), but also quite a number of non recorder players, who had been attracted by the fact that the concert was included in the prestigious Cheltenham Fringe Festival. A big success!
Our second concert was on Sunday 7th November 2004 at theBristol Music Club. This was very unusual, in that it was a joint concert with ‘Interchange’, a contemporary music ensemble. The Phoenix performed:
O Mater Mundi (Mundy)
Fantasias I and II (Gibbons)
24 Steps (Paul Burnell)
Four Mediaeval Tunes (Anon arr Marshall)
Suite for Recorders (Walton)
The Lone Ar-Ranger (Philip Buttall)
We also joined Interchange to play two very modern pieces (1990 and 2004 vintage).
In addition Pam Smith put down her baton to play recorder with three orchestra members in some quartets – I Got Rhythm, It Ain’t Necessarily So, and Tango für Elise.
This was a fascinating concert of two different musical worlds. We had worried that everyone in the audience would be alienated by the pieces they hadn’t heard of, but in fact the opposite happened – both audience and musicians were interested by the music they were unfamiliar with, as well as their ‘old favourites’. An excellent evening of musical bridge-building, in front of an enthusiastic audience.
We played our third concert on Saturday 4th December 2004 at Christ Church, Cheltenham. This was a Christmas programme of words and music, where we performed:
Unto Us A Boy Is Born
The Twelve Days Of Christmas
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen *
Sussex Carol
All This Time *
Hark To The World
Of The Father’s Heart Begotten
Gabriel’s Message
Now May We Singen
Gaudete
Jingle Bells
Silent Night
Funky Halleluia *
* Including Sally Pillinger (flügelhorn)
Members of the orchestra read some Christmas stories, and we had three guest readers (Judy Kendall, Joe Kinane and Keith Jones) who took part in a (abbreviated!) telling of A Christmas Carol, with incidental music from the orchestra.
The concert went down well with the audience of about 40, and we showed that we could stay calm even when we were a little up against it, in that several members could not make this concert and we had learned a lot of new music in just three rehearsals.
Incidentally Funky Halleluia is a funk version of the famous Halleluia Chorus for recorder orchestra, flugelhorn and rock band (courtesy of a specially-recorded CD). Great fun, but unlikely to enter the repertoire of many consorts!
On 9th July 2005 we played our fourth concert at the University of Gloucestershire during the Cheltenham Recorder Festival. Our guest was Helen Hooker, who was soloist in the first performance of Steve’s new recorder concerto. The programme was:
English Folksong Suite (Vaughan Williams)
Clouds In A Darkening Sky (Ronald Wilson)
Two Canzons in 10 Parts (Gabrieli)
Recorder Concerto No 2 (Steve Marshall)
Four Mediaeval Tunes (Anon)
Sunrise to Sunset (Marg Hall)
Lone Ar-Ranger (Philip Buttall)
In addition Helen played some unaccompanied pieces, and there was also music for voices and recorders led by Ann Lyall, which had been rehearsed during the festival.
This was a concert where big-headedness could become a risk! There was a large audience (over 100), and we played very well in terms of both rhythms and intonation – our two years together clearly is being paying dividends.
Helen excelled herself in the concerto, we supported her strongly, and the audience was most enthusiastic.
Our fifth concert was on Saturday 4th February 2006 at St Alban’s Church, Bristol.
The concert included Helen Hooker, who performed some pieces for unaccompanied recorder, and played in some quartets, as well as joining us as soloist in the second performance of Steve’s second recorder concerto. The excellent St Alban’s choir sang a piece on their own, and was accompanied by the orchestra on others. Marion Droop (contralto) also sang a Handel aria, accompanied by the orchestra. The full programme was:
Four Mediaeval Tunes (Anon)
Music Divine (Thomas Tomkins) choir + Phoenix
Partita (Alan Davis) Helen’s solo
Pena Tiranna Io Sento Al Core (Handel) Marion + Phoenix
Recorder Concerto No 2 (Steve Marshall)
Pavane (Fauré)
O Sonno (Rore) choir + Phoenix
Lullaby My Sweet Little Baby (Byrd) choir
Recorder Quartets
The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel)
Ricercar (Maute)
Tango für Elise (Leenhouts after Beethoven)
Clouds In A Darkening Sky (Ronald Wilson)
The Lone Ar-Ranger (Philip Buttall)
We had a gratifyingly large audience (about 120 we estimated, including a good contingent from the Bristol SRP branch), and natural modesty (nearly!) prevents me from saying that the concerto and the concert overall had a fantastic reception. Quite rightly Helen Hooker was the star of the show, even bringing a second frock so that she could blend in with the orchestra as she played in the ranks in the second half.
For our sixth concert we played at Christ Church, Malvern Rd, Cheltenham.on Saturday 8th July 2006. Our special guests were Helen Hooker (who has become a very welcome regular guest) and local poet Judy Kendall. We played in the church hall, a modern room with a lively acoustic. The room is not large, but was just right – we had an audience of about 50, and the room was packed, which is always nice. The programme was:
The Charlbury Reel (Steve Marshall)
O Mater Mundi (Mundy)
Partita No 3 (Bach) Helen’s solo
Gavotte en Rondeau; Bourée; Gigue
Out Of The Wood Of Thoughts (Steve Marshall)
Edward Thomas poems read by Judy Kendall;
recorder trio Shirley Jee, Pam Smith and Simon Toomer
Music Divine (Thomas Tomkins)
Beethoven’s Funky 5th
Canzon Septimi Toni (Gabrieli)
Symphony No 2 (Steve Marshall)
When I Am Laid In Earth (Purcell)
Dam Busters March (Coates)
The arrangement of Beethoven’s 5th featured Helen on electric descant recorder, soaring over a funky backing track. If you listened very carefully you could hear a faint shuffling noise, which was Beethoven turning in his grave. A good concert, at which we were approached by three people who wanted to join!
Our seventh concert was at Westonbirt School, not far from Tetbury. An afternoon concert at a pleasant venue, with mulled wine and mince pies at the interval. There was a pretty decent-sized audience (about 60), but given that Westonbirt is a girls’ boarding school, that we had agreed that pupils could come in free, and that many of them play the recorder, we were disappointed that not a single pupil attended. Clearly the recorder still has a bit of an image problem.
Anyway, that gripe apart, a really good time was had by all, and the programme of music, singing along and story readings was a very successful formula. The programme was:
Unto Us A Boy Is Born
Jingle Bells
Now May We Singen
Sussex Carol
God Rest You Merry
Bethlehem Down
Of The Father’s Heart Begotten
This Have I Done For My True Love (quartet)
O Magnum Mysterium (Willaert)
Christmas Twofers
On Christmas Night (Rosemary Robinson)
The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Silent Night
Star In The East
All This Time
Gaudete
Gabriel’s Message
Funky Halleluia
O Come All Ye Faithful
There were several very good recorder players in the audience, and two of them suggested to us afterwards that the Phoenix was probably now the best recorder orchestra in the country; they said very nice things about our tuning (difficult on recorders) and our good rhythmic drive (not difficult on recorders, but often not achieved). Quite frankly we find this sort of thing rather disturbing, because in the unlikely event that it were true it would give us an awful lot to live up to. Food
for thought
though.
Concert number eight was at the Cheltenham Recorder Festival on Saturday 18th August 2007 at Prince Michael Hall, Dean Close School, Cheltenham. Our contributions to the programme (all large pieces) were:
Alle Augen Warten, Herr (Bach, from Cantata No 23)
Symphony No 2 (John Hawkes)
Double Concerto (Steve Marshall)
This was the first performances of Steve’s Double Concerto (in which the soloists were Caroline Jones (recorder) and Charles Matthews (spinet)), and the second (just by a couple of weeks) of John Hawkes’ Symphony, dedicated to Pam Smith and the Phoenix. Helen Hooker also played two solo spots, but in her own name, so I won’t try to give the impression that she brought the house down as a member of the Phoenix! This is a particularly good venue for recorder events – there’s a nice acoustic,
and during the festival every single seat is taken, so it’s packed, which is very satisfying. Also, there were further worrying comments about our high standing in the world of recorder orchestras.
Our ninth concert was at Chastleton House, not far from Chipping Norton. This was as part of the Chipping Norton Music Festival, and Chastleton House – not usually open at that time of the year – was opened up specially for the concert. Chastleton is a National Trust property, and I believe it is the best surviving example of a Jacobean Manor. We played in the Main Hall and it was very atmospheric with a huge open fire, subdued lighting, and a very appreciative capacity audience. We played:
The Lord Zouche’s Maske (Farnaby)
Folk Song Suite (Anon)
Clouds In A Darkening Sky (Ronald Wilson)
Music Divine (Tomkins)
Two In Nomines (Taverner, Marshall)
Lachrimae Tango (Andrew Melville)
March: Folk Songs from Somerset (Vaughan Williams)
My Lady Carey’s Dompe (Anon)
English Dances No 3 (Arnold)
Four Mediaeval Tunes (Anon) (with Steve Smith bashing the drum!)
Charlbury Reel (Steve Marshall)
Helen played three of Alan Bullard’s Recipes for recorder, and Helen, Pam and Steve played Lupo’s Fantasy No 11 on tenor, bass and contrabass (mmmm!)
Concert ten was at Tirley (not far from Tewksbury). It was a fund-raiser for Tirley church, which suffered huge damage in the 2007 floods. Again, sold out – this is becoming a bit of a trend!
We played:
The Lord Zouche’s Maske (Farnaby)
Scarborough Fair (Anon)
Lachrimae Tango (Andrew Melville)
March: Folk Songs from Somerset (Vaughan Williams)
When I Am Laid In Earth (Purcell)
My Lady Carey’s Dompe (Anon)
Four Mediaeval Tunes (Anon) (with Steve Smith bashing the drum!)
Charlbury Reel (Steve Marshall)
Dam Busters March (Coates)
Helen again played some Alan Bullard Recipes for recorder, and Helen, Pam, Shirley and Steve played Summertime and Singin’ In The Rain.
The hall was quite small, but in many ways that was a good thing. With the audience of 60 it was packed, and the enthusiastic audience was only 3 or 4 feet away from us, which gave the concert an intimate feel. We heard afterwards that about £800 had been raised, so it was an all-round big success.
Concert eleven was a concert of Christmas music for the Witney Music Society, in December 2008. We played:
Unto Us A Boy Is Born
Jingle Bells
Three Christmas Trios (Praetorius)
All This Time (Walton)
On Christmas Night (Rosemary Robinson)
Christmas Concerto (Corelli)
Nu Komm der Heyden Heyland (Scheidt)
Puer Natus in Bethlehem (Altenburg)
In Dulce Jubilo (Praetorius)
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
Sinfonia Pastorale (from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio)
Il Est Né
Carol Of The Bells
We asked Helen to dig out her clarinet for the arrangement of God Rest You Merry, which is for clarinet and recorder orchestra; a lovely sound. This concert went down very well indeed; many at the Music Society confessed to us afterwards that they had been doubtful about inviting us (the old thing about imagining the orchestra would comprise 25 descant players), so they were delighted to find that the reality was totally different!
Just a week short of the longest day, we played concert twelve at theSlimbridge Wetlands Centre, on 14th June 2009. Quite possibly this concert was the highlight of the Phoenix to date. Everything was right – the weather was fantastic, the venue was superb (and interesting in its own right), we had a big audience (despite the remoteness of the venue) and we played our socks off (technical music term there) in what was a pretty tricky programme:
English Folk Song Suite (Vaughan Williams)
Mille Regretz & Responce: Les Miens Aussi Brief (Josquin/Susato)
Symphony No 3 (first performance) (Steve Marshall)
Magnificat (Zielenski)
The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel)
Misty (Errol Garner) Clarinet solo Helen Hooker
The Lone Ar-ranger (Philip Buttall)
Helen also played Three Caprices by Colin Hand, as well as Misty (arranged for clarinet and recorder orchestra).
Concert thirteen was in the Great Oak Hall at Westonbirt Arboretum on December 11th 2009 as part of their “Enchanted Christmas” event. This was a “drop-in” concert – people were free to come in and out as they wished. Our programme was of arrangements of Christmas music:
| Part 1 Unto Us A Boy Is Born On Christmas Night The Twelve Days Of Christmas Now May We Singen Star In The East All This Time God Rest You Merry Gentlemen Il Est Né, Le Divin Enfant Bethlehem Down Gabriel’s Message Gaudete Here Is The Little Door Gloucestershire Wassail Song |
Part 2 Jingle Bells Of The Father’s Heart Begotten Sinfonia Pastorale Carol Of The Bells Silent Night The Sussex Carol The Blessed Son Of God Frosty The Snowman Gaudete Omnes O Come All Ye Faithful Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas |
Concert fourteen was in St Bartholemew’s Church, Redmarley d’Abitot, Glos. in aid of their restoration fund. The programme was:
| Part 1 Four Mediaeval Tunes March (Wiren) The Lord Zouche’s Maske (Farnaby) Salvator Mundi (Tallis) The Major Pipework Tango (Steve Marshall) Whistling Rufus March (Duncan) |
Part 2 Fantasia III (Gibbons) Ave Maria (Josquin) Three quartet pieces The Bare Necessities The Dam Busters March (Coates) Encore: The Lone Ar-ranger (Buttall) |
Concert fifteen was at the Cotswold Water Park, South Cerney, Glos on 27th June 2010. The programme was the same as for Redmarley (above) with the following two items (in which the soloist was Helen Hooker):
Estampie Royale, anon, arranged by Steve Marshall
Recorder Concerto No 2, Steve Marshall
Concert sixteen was at Westonbirt Arboretum on 10th December 2010. The programme comprised arrangements of a range of Christmas pieces by Steve Marshall:
| Part 1 Unto us a boy is born Now May We Singen Gaudete Silent Night Twelve Days of Christmas Here is the Little Door Gabriel’s message Carol of the Bells Bethlehem Down Gloucestershire Wassail Song Christmas Concerto (Corelli) |
Part 2 Frosty the Snowman Il est né le Divin Enfant The Sussex Carol Jingle Bells Star in the East All this Time The Blessed Son of God Of the Father’s Heart begotten Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas O Come All Ye Faithful |
Concert Seventeen was on the 4th June 2011, during the South Cotswold Recorder Festival, when we played … repertoire to follow.
Concert Eighteen saw the Phoenix joining forces with the Exeter Recorder Orchestra: both orchestras had been rehearsing the same repertoire (see Concert Seventeen above) for separate concerts in Gloucestershire and Devon, but on the 20th August the two combined during the Cheltenham Recorder Festival and gelled superbly.
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