Got Wood

Last Friday I thought a really good subject for today's post would be wardrobes, I could wax lyrical around the what clothes mean to a trans woman, How although the clothes may not be the point they are an important aspect of, not so much our self identity, but of how we demonstrate our identity to the world at large.   I could also play around with a few light hearted comments about the differences between men's wardrobes and women's wardrobes ~ but then the weekend happened.

Cellia, our cover girl for Sunday's Concert

It was a pretty good, and pretty busy weekend, a Ladies' breakfast at the Church on Saturday morning, a concert with the lovely Lambeth Wind Orchestra in the evening.   Then on Sunday after Church in the morning it was a straight dash up to town for the LGSO Concert.

A very interesting concert it was as well.

As a heavy brass player I do quite often only play a small (but perfectly formed) part in concerts, it is the nature of the instruments I play that they tend not to be in constant use, a fairly usual concert would be to play in the Overture and then the first and last movements of the symphony.   On a good day I might get to play in the last movement of a concerto as well.   Last night's concert was a bit different, not least because we didn't play a symphony! (I know it is a symphony orchestra but that doesn't mean we have to play one every time!)

We played The Marquez Danson no. 2, the Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra by Sejourne and The Ox on the Roof by Milhaud in the first half, and then Ibert's Divertissement and Firebird Suite by Stravinsky.   Personally I played in the Danzon, and the last two movements of the Stravinsky.   I may not have played many notes, but they were all important and added to the performance.   It also gave me the opportunity to listen, really listen to the orchestra, to one of my all time favorite pieces, and to an instrument I don't often get to hear live, but love.

The Marimba is a sort of Xylophone on steroids.  It has a wonderful warm rich sound and in the hands of a Virtuoso like Larisa Sceadei really comes back to life.   At one point it felt as though the whole Church was resonating with the sounds from the lower notes, all the wood in the building sharing it's song.

The Ibert Divertissement is not often played, but one of my favorite pieces for a long time, indeed the very first record (one of those old fashioned vinyl 12inch things)  was of the Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals, the Ibert is on the "B" side, I still have that record and play it occasionally, yet I think this Sunday was the very first time I have heard it performed live.   Given that, and the unbridled license to let rip in "Firebird" it will still be the Marimba that I remember most.