This evening I am playing in a Baroque concert - and for those who realise this .... yes, as a clarinettist I should not be involved. However when you are part of a small amateur orchestra you end up having to improvise occasionally. Some of the music I am playing is horn music and some is trumpet music ... and a couple of the pieces have been arranged completely by the conductor. So I am not playing in either of the organ concertos, but the T.Arne piec is actually a trumpet duet that the 2 clarinettists are playing.
The concert is based around G.F. Handel because the town about 10 mins drive away (on the way towards DJ) is Kilkhampton and inside the Church is THE HANDEL ORGAN. This classical organ has quite a history which time has seemed to have mystified. The nucleus of this instrument is reputed to have come from The Schrider Organ used in Westminster Abbey, when it was dismantled in 1730. It is probable that it was sent to Kilkhampton by the then sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey, John Thynne of Penstowe Manor. The instrument was the reconstructed by the renowned organ builder Henry Willis in 1880. The great age of this organ has probably felt the hands of G.F. Handel, John Blow, as well as other well known organists of that time.
The concert programme is built around G.F. HANDEL (1685 – 1759) and his near contemporaries. We start with the man himself with his overture to AGRIPINA. This early opera was first produced in Venice on the 26th December 1709 at the Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo and takes its theme from classical history.
ROYAL BIRTHDAY ODES SUITE by WILLIAM BOYCE (1711 – 1779).
ORGAN CONCERTO NO 4 by JOHN STANLEY (1713 – 1786)
SARABANDE AND GIGUE by G.F. HANDEL
Suite from the BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO 1 by J.S. BACH (1685 – 1750)
SINFONIA NO 4 by THOMAS ARNE (1710 – 1778)
SUITE VON GLUCK by C.W. VON GLUCK (1714 – 1787)
This suite has been arranged by the conductor from various harpsichord pieces that occur in Gluck’s operas.
ORGAN CONCERTO in F (Cuckoo and the Nightingale) by G.F. HANDEL
SYMPHONIE in G by JOHANN HERTEL (1727 – 1789
So, I have a rehearsal this afternoon - which is necessary as we can't get there until today ... but puts a strain on the wind players mouths ... violinists arm ... etc.
Then concert this evening - I don't suppose it will be quite as much a sell-out ... or as lively and realaxed as the one I went to in Union Chapel ... but hopefully those who attend will enjoy it.
Hope both rehearsal and concert go well. Have fun.
Thanks - just back from rehearsal to grab a sandwich
it was interesting to learn the history of the organ myself!
Hope you have a good time.
Charming village with the church looking over all.
Yes - nice to see a traditional looking village