Look, I wrote some more music.

A couple of days ago I assembled the fourth in my planned series of twelve solo piano pieces, and you can now listen to it for free on The Internet!

It’s called ‘The Longest Night’, and it’s a dark and disturbing journey through 114 bars of melancholy. If that doesn’t make you want to listen I don’t know what will. Not much else to say, except that I hope it depresses you.

Happy Monday! ; )
 

[EDIT: This rough, not-very-good MIDI recording is no longer available, however you can now listen to The Longest Night in all its glory on my album ‘Miniatures’! Click here to learn more. – MG, 3/4/23]

Oliver! In Aylesbury!

I’m going to have a splendid time next week because I will be playing flute and piccolo for Stage Experience’s performances of Oliver! (By the way, that exclamation mark is part of the title – it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m wildly enthusiastic.) In Aylesbury! (O.K., that one did stem from wild enthusiasm.)

Here are all the details for anybody who wants to come and watch and listen and say ‘hello’:

Oliver!
Wednesday 16th August – Saturday 19th August
7:00, with 2:00 matinee on 19th
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury, HP20 1UG
Further information here
 

 
I’ve just had a look at the theatre website and it looks SNAZZAAAAAAY! Look:
 

 
By the way, I will not be performing for the shows on Saturday 19th because I’ll be off ‘oop north’ to entertain at a wedding with The Jelly Roll Jazz Band.

That is all for now, but stay tuned as I have some sarcastic insights to share in due course, regarding the Reed 1 part for this show!

Proof that I Play Saxophone

[EDIT: Sorry, I don’t have these videos up on The Internet any more, but you can find plenty of other examples of my saxomophoning elsewhere on this blog. – MG, 3/4/23]

 
It has come to my attention lately that there are quite a few gigs going for background solo saxophone music, but for some reason people don’t always believe me when I tell them I am capable of such a feat. So for that reason, today I took steps to disprove the doubters by recording a few short videos of me doing some jazzy stuff on tenor saxomophone.

See? I told you I could do it!
 

On a Slow Boat to China
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uLTf54E2kBA%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

Misty

https://youtube.com/watch?v=G7SPJXLV7rc%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

Ain’t Misbehavin’

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7EXbSkoEd4U%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

Come Fly With Me

https://youtube.com/watch?v=HEoQJmo7PHc%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

By the way, that sheet of bright green fabric was worth every penny.

Video: Largo (from The Four Seasons), featuring The World’s Smallest Bassoon Quartet

Well it seems that, after all, blog posts are a bit like buses – you wait ages for one to appear, and then it doesn’t show up at all so you have to fork out £70 for a train journey that would only have cost you £35 if you’d had the option of booking it in advance! Sorry, just venting some Megabus-related frustration there. Anyway, what was I saying…

Oh yes, those miniature bassoonists have been at it again! You see, I was settling down yesterday evening to read a truly fascinating literature review on the subject of orbital-free density functional theory, when I was suddenly struck with a deep thirst for refreshment. Over the course of the (approximately) four minutes and fifteen seconds that it took me to brew a mug of Earl Grey, something quite remarkable occurred. For when I returned to my computer, I discovered four tiny bassoonists sitting on the keyboard and partially obscuring my view of the screen. They clearly had no intention of leaving until they had played some Vivaldi, and so, making the best of the situation, I fetched my video camera and captured their performance for all to enjoy:
 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=StMPYt4kvC0%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

This Sunday: Scarborough Concert Band at Filey Bandstand
On another note, if you happen to be in Filey this Sunday 23rd July, I recommend you make your way to the bandstand in order to see Scarborough Concert Band strutting their stuff in the summer sun. It starts at 2:00, and I shall be there playing my bassoon at 1:1 scale for a change!

P.S. If it’s raining then the concert will instead be held just up the road in St. John’s Church.

Video: The Entertainer, featuring The World’s Smallest Bassoon Quartet

Remember that quartet of tiny little bassoonists that look a bit like me who keep cropping up in unexpected places around the house? Well they’ve done it again! And it looks like this time they’ve branched out into ragtime…
 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zD73YnK8aAQ%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

The Day I Made It to Vinyl

And not just any old vinyl – clear vinyl!

These albums are the result of a series of recording sessions I did at the start of this year, overdubbing bits of woodwind onto existing recordings of ‘classical’ arrangements of rock music. The result is a series of L.P.s (or C.D.s if your storage space is limited) with the music of Led Zeppelin, Genesis and Pink Floyd played on strings, piano, woodwind, guitar and percussion. Worth a look if you like that sort of thing! Just search for ‘The Coda Chamber Ensemble’ on Amazon.
 

 
By the way, I’m told that clear vinyl is the best type of vinyl for sound quality. The reason, apparently, is that the impurities that must be added in order to colour vinyl have an adverse effect when it comes to pressing the L.P., resulting in a reduction in audio fidelity. There you go, who says this blog is not educational‽

Now, to finish off, here’s a joke that I’m particularly fond of:

How do you turn a duck into a soul singer?
Put it in the oven until it’s Bill Withers.

Thank you.

Lots and Lots of MUSIC for You to Enjoy! : D

Good evening humanity!

Today’s post-of-blog is intended to introduce you to a number of creative things I’ve been doing recently which I hope you find fulfilling to some greater or lesser extent. But preferably a greater one.

First, here’s the latest video in my ‘World’s Smallest Bassoon Quartet’ series. This time I found them hiding in the garden, playing a certain Hungarian Dance that you may recognise…
 

Second, it occurred to me recently that I have written a lot of new music which has for too long been languishing in notebooks and on my hard drive. So I have created a playlist on YouTube with the imaginative title of ‘Original Compositions’, which I intend to keep adding to with recordings of stuff what I have written. Current joys that you can discover there include:
 

  • 2 string quartets
  • A bassoon sonata
  • An arrangement of ‘Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey?’ in the style of Claude Debussy
  • A grand orchestral overture
  • 3 (out of a planned series of 12) miniatures for solo piano

Here is the link:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5fQXV4mFwD6tA2AOmZvUE9WDVd7HtzpD

I hope you find something there that tickles your fancy. If not, then, well, you can get stuffed.* Like whoever it was who put a ‘dislike’ on the final two movements of my second quartet…

* On the advice of my imaginary P.A. I would like to withdraw this comment. Apparently it is bad practice to tell your readership to ‘get stuffed’.

Rachmaninoff, Brahms and Strauss with Durham University Palatinate Orchestra

Rachmaninoff, Brahms and Strauss
Durham University Palatinate Orchestra
Thursday 22nd June
7:30
Elvet Methodist Church, Durham
www.musicdurham.org/event/dupo-easter-term-concert

Hello again everybody. I have an announcement today particularly aimed at my North-East-based friends, but nonetheless open to anyone else who may be interested too! For I will be journeying up to the land of Durham this week to get some coal for my steam train, and while I’m there I plan to join in with this concert that you see before you:
 

 
It’s a great programme, as you see, featuring Rachmaninoff’s Wrapsody on a Theme of Panini and other sandwich-related works. My plan is just to turn up with a bassoon and see what happens, and if you were to turn up as well (even without a bassoon) I’m sure you would have a truly marvellous evening.