Well,
such a large tour demanded a somewhat different repertoire from our
previous events (see below)... so we included a wide variety of music, for
different reasons.We started each morning with a performance of Bach's Wachet Auf (literally "Wake Up"), as it seemed highly appropriate! Just to be perverse, however, we would typically play the first movement of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in the middle of the day... and at our final Cathedral each day we'd play the Adagio Cantabile from Beethoven's trio for 3 cellos (originally composed for two oboes & cor anglais, but re-written by the composer himself).
Other Classical pieces we played regularly were Puccini's Nessun Dorma (from Turandot), and Mendelssohn's Lift Thine Eyes (from Elijah). The text of this last piece made particular sense, as did the fact it was written for three unaccompanied vocal parts! Making one appearance only was Mendelssohn's Wedding March (from A Midsummer Night's Dream), which we played at Leicester where four couples were celebrating special wedding anniversaries.
One of the more popular pieces we performed (amongst radio and TV, at any rate) was Up on the Roof, originally sung by The Drifters. Of course this fitted our venture very well, as did Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music (Rogers & Hammerstein). We also had a few football-related songs: Hi Ho Silver Lining (or Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday), originally sung by Jeff Beck; I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles (by Jaan Kenbrovin and John Kellette), and another Sheffield Wednesday tune, Hey Jude (Lennon & McCartney).
Finally, we also gave some performances Gershwin's I've Got Rhythm, and Capua's O Sole Mio. And last, but definitely not least, we gave one performance of the theme from Miss Marple, arranged for us especially by Clare's father!
William
Byrd was arguably the greatest English composer of the 16th century. A
pupil of Thomas Tallis, he was organist of Lincoln Cathedral before taking
up a position in the Royal Chapel of Queen Elizabeth. He is best known now
for his choral music, not least his three masses - one in three parts, one
in four parts and one in five parts.
Johann Sebastian
Bach's 6 suites for solo cello are certainly the most famous works for
unaccompanied cello ever written, and they are true masterpieces of the
repertoire. Almost every cellist alive must surely have played at least
one movement from one suite. Written in about 1720, Bach draws on many
styles, but each is unmistakably the work of the great J. S. Bach, who is
regarded by many as the greatest ever composer of music.