Whit Fayre Performance

"Play that funky music white boy,

Play that funky music right."

Although you don't have to be white, or a boy, to play with SUWO. You just have to be able to improvise your way through pieces that haven't been rehearsed once this year.

Every year at around May/June (conveniently cutting into exam preparation time) SUWO plays for an hour in the bandstand at Weston Park. This year we had the most prestigious honour of doing it during the Whit Fayre. A prestigious honour mainly because we performed surrounded by people in Victorian-style dress walking around in stilts and playing croquet... and we can only wish they had been done together.

So after defying the laws of physics and getting over fifty SUWO members, their instruments (which, as a reminder, include tubas, large saxophones, and tonnes of percussion), chairs and music stands into the bandstand, and still somehow managing to leave enough room for Tony to do his required arm-flails without poking any of the higher woodwind instrumentalists in the eye, we started to play. Our repertoire included:

- Selections from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin; a piece that had been played many times in the SUWO days of yore (2008-2009) but had not been rehearsed at all this year. After finishing playing this piece we noticed that not many audience members were vacating their seats with vigour, or indeed at all. We like to believe that this was not because they had been super-glued to them.

- English Folk Songs by Tomlinson, movements 1, 2, and 3; which was performed well and proof of this would exist in video format if Tony had not looked disapprovingly into the camera, at a time when I admittedly should probably have been playing.

- Folk Song Suite by Vaughn Williams, movements 1 and 3; with Gareth, barely visible without the normal SUWO podium, doing the conducting, this was a fun couple of movements to play. The audience seemed to like it too.

No video this entry, I'm afraid, but there are photos!

 

The bandstand, with various SUWO members conglomerating to its left.

Some of the nearby festivities.

 

 As students of Sheffield, we know that a daytime event is not a daytime event if it is not performed under the block-shaped shadow of the Arts Tower.

Inside the bandstand. The test of a true musician - being able to play in such a small space.

Further pictoral evidence of the lack of space inside that bandstand.

Not sure when the next SUWO blog will be. But when it comes, I'm sure it will be extraordinary. :)

Week 12 Rehearsal

"Music makes the people come together,

Music mix the bourgeoisie and the rebel."

...yeah I don't get what that means either. But it's a quote with the word 'music' in it from a Madonna song now stuck deep in the head of this SUWO blog-artist.

So, after several weeks' hiatus due to Metropolis and the Music Ball, both of which were attended and enjoyed by many (I will assume, since some of us were as lacking in the 35 pounds necessary to attend the music ball at the time as they currently are in a laptop that has a pound sign key). 

There was a rehearsal in the midst of all of this, in Week 10. Allow me to summarise the happenings of that rehearsal now:

SUWO: tootle tootle honk honk bang bang
Tony: *flail flail flail, then* I'm going to sit these next few out. Gareth and George, you're up.
Gareth: Fabulous! *gets out especially pointy custom-made conductor's baton* *points*
SUWO: tootle tootle honk honk bang bang
Gareth: Unfortunately during my pointing escapades I've accidentally pointed myself a few times, so George, you're it.
George: Equally fabulous! *hops onto podium and gets out specially made extremely fast conductor's baton*
SUWO: O.o
George: So this piece, "Overture to Candide", is kind of brisk and has lots of fiddly bits, so we're going to start off slow to get you slowpokes warmed up for it.
SUWO: *collective sigh of relief*
George: So here we go. *...flailflailflailflailflailflailflail!!!*
SUWO: Oh sweet bejebus! *collective putting away of phones and picking up of instruments, because 50 bars rest is not going to last us long*
SUWO: tootletootlehonkhonkbangCLASH!!
George: wot.
Gareth (now in Percussion): Yeah it's just that when I have to change instruments it's a bit like this. *demonstrates hastily throwing down whatever piece of percussion at hand, running to the crash cymbals and crashing them before the speed of his instrument change causes him to fall over*
...and the rest.

And that brings us nicely to this week's rehearsal! With tour only being a few weeks away and most of us having exams right up until tour begins, the fates decided that now would be the perfect time to give SUWO a bunch of other concert commitments beforehand. On today's agenda: rehearsing for a bandstand concert at Weston Park on Sunday (from 3-4pm 100% free lots of great bands performing get there early to get good seats). 


These are some of the pieces that are going to sound slightly more recently rehearsed than the others.


- The Godfather Saga, by Nino Rota and Carmen Coppola, featuring some boss solo trumpet work by Ben Hoblyn


- Vintage, a piece for solo euphonium and the other members of a wind orchestra if they so choose, by David R. Gillingham and featuring Austin (Powers) Castaneda on eupho.


- Colonial Song by absolute legend incarnate (and he didn't even have to be Australian to be such a legend, although that certainly helped) Percy Aldridge Grainger, conducted by His Equally Gingeryness, George Mistoffelees Morton. 


- Concertante for Flute, Oboe and Band by Ignace Moscheles, arranged and conducted by one Mr Anthony Morton, and featuring the lovely duo of Hannah Lewin on oboe and David Bramall on flute.


And now for your viewing pleasure, I present photos and a video!

During the break.

A slightly more impressive view of the orchestra than I could have hoped to manage from my position. Taken by George.

The first twelve bars of Colonial Song. If this video works I'll be absolutely floored with amazement.

And that's all for this week folks! SUWO blog shall return soon!