15th July 1976 – my final Glasgow Schools’ course had its concert in Ardrossan Academy. This was my fifth year as horn tutor at the military band camp – and I had just about got the hang of it😃. This was also Derick Kane’s last time as Trombone tutor.
Year: 2020
A Cello Today
Today my mind goes back to Dunoon in 1971. Castle Toward was a marvellous venue for the course.
Memories Of Summer Music Courses
A bit of reminiscing this week – the Glasgow schools’ summer music courses always happened during the first two full weeks in July immediately after the school holidays started. For seven years I was privileged to be a part of those courses – firstly as a student and then on the staff. So this week is going to be about those courses.
Perhaps An Unexpected Source of Religious Music
Today’s choice is Stravinsky’s setting of Psalm 150 – the third and final movement of his Symphony of Psalms. When I played this with the Glasgow University this was very new music to me and I wasn’t sure whether I liked listening to it – even though it was good to play.
Dancing Now In Central Europe
Today’s choice is another “fun” piece and another that I played with the Scottish Universities Orchestra.
Some Lovely Choral Music
This is one of my favourite choral pieces and it is perfect for a moment of calm and reflection today. The video has a title that for many will be unintelligible – it is Brahms’ “Schicksalslied” (Song of Destiny)
Now Spanish Dancing
Tonight’s “unusual” music is ballet music – and I think it may well be the first ballet music that I have shared. It certainly was the first ballet music that I played. This is not the whole ballet – but a suite of dances from it.
My First Taste Of ‘Modern’ Music
One of the first pieces of “modern” that I played was Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra – barely a quarter of a century old when I played it! We were fortunate to have a conductor (John Carewe) who was able to tell us a lot about the music since this was very different from the “typical” Glasgow Schools’ Orchestra repertoire. At the time it was seen as quite a radical departure – it being his first year conducting the orchestra.
Dancing American Style
Following on from yesterday’s Parry I’ve decided to share a few other pieces of music that, perhaps, are not so familiar. This one I first played in Largs – in the same concert as I mentioned when I shared the Hansel and Gretel – after my afternoon fishing.
In The Bournemouth Youth Orchestra
One of the downsides of moving away from Scotland after I finished university was that I lost all my contacts in the non-Salvation Army music field. So in Bournemouth I had to start finding outlets for my horn playing.