Winterstart Soiree

 Yesterday was the 1st of June and the start of Winter in the southern hemisphere. Not only that, but it was bucketing down with rain! We measured over 50 ml this morning and the little spider which had taken up residence in the raingauge looked decidedly miserable and wet! I deposited it in the strawberry patch where it could shelter under a leaf.....

We had readied the Studio in the morning dodging heavy showers to get the afternoon tea taken over and the chairs arranged for our guests.
My viola and violin friends arrived early so we were able to squeeze in a practice and warm up to settle some nerves ,before everyone came and settled in to listen.
Our friends started arriving early afternoon and after introductions to those who didn't know each other we started our program.

 First off was the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba which we play at a very sedate pace as usually it seems a race to get the Queen over and out of the way it is played so fast.
Next we did two Bach pieces one of which is Prelude 22 and we do have that one more under control now and we actually finish together on time!Bach is very ordered and lovely.
Next came a whole series of Teleman which are very enjoyable for us to play. We are also learning a Trio by Haydn this year so we picked out the bits that we liked and played those.

We had a bit of an interval to rest our fingers and shoulders( the viola player had cut his thumb badly earlier in the week and soldiered on though despite the pain, not able to play much on his C string). We concluded with some more modern pieces like the Lennon/McCartney When I'm Sixty Four, When Allen-A-Dale Went A-Hunting and the ever popular Sahara Crossing by Richard Meyer.
My dear sister had kept the urn going and cups of tea and coffee were most welcome with some of us taking to Hugos red to relax and replenish the iron in our blood. Rain had not dampened our patient listeners enthusiasm and all went home feeling it was a good way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon!!