Music in Surrey
&
Leatherhead's Lunchtime Concerts

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Music on Thursdays - Online

Thursday 17th June 2021


Instruments:

Unusual, Rare . . . or just plain Weird

Lynda Chang's  selection of youtube recordings of instruments less ordinary

Available: from Thursday 17th June
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Programme


Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor (for organ) BWV 565    (7m20)


Thomas Bloch
Improvisation (3m50)


Martin Molin (of Wintergatan)
Wintergatan Marble Machine    (4m30)


Lin Hai (b1969)
Pipa Language        (2m05)


arr Blue Man Group
Holiday Songs on PVC Instrument        (1m45)


arr Kaboom Percussion
Disney Medley        (4m45)



Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
The Typewriter    La maquina de escribir  (1950)        (4m35)


OVERTIME

Achille Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Clair de lune    Moonlight        (5m25)



Concert duration:  35 minutes
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► Please help us to fund our recent 'as live' concert recordings

If the concerts cover their costs we will be able to do more.

Please donate now !

Many thanks to those who have donated already.

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Greetings !

The human capacity for creativity is truly endless.  I have had a  fabulous time trawling the internet for unusual instruments in the music world.  However, I was conscious of not wanting this to become just a freak show of man's ingenuity without some contribution to musical enjoyment.  So here is my selection of musical curios.

I revere Bach (as do we all. Ed).  Therefore I apologise to any purists who may regard this recording as a travesty.  And I hope the rest of the audience will enjoy the performance as I do.


Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor (for organ) BWV 565    (7m20)

performed by Robert Tiso on glass harp

(there is nothing quite like a piece of glassical music)

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The Ondes Martenot (literally Martenot's waves) must be one of the earliest electronic instruments.  It was invented circa 1928 by a French cellist, Maurice Martenot, who was inspired by the sound of accidentally overlapping radio waves.  This rather spooky, other-worldly sound was featured by Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) in his massive Turangalila symphony - a work that is all about 'love as a spiritual approach to life'.

This instrument is said to be used in around 100 works.  Among its exponents are, surprisingly, Damon Albarn and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.

Thomas Bloch is a classical musician specialising in rare instruments.  In addition to the Ondes Martenot, he also plays the glass harmonica.



Improvisation (3m50)

performed by Thomas Bloch, on Ondes Martenot
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Invented by an obviously highly intelligent Swedish musician / engineer - Martin Molin, who clearly had too much time at his disposal - this hand-built machine has 3,000 parts, activating 2,000 steel marbles to 'play' a vibraphone, bass, kick drum, cymbal and various other instruments.  It took 14 months to build.

The result - performance art perhaps? - is surprisingly tuneful and visually captivating.  The physical action of cranking, fiddling, turning, twiddling etc to 'play' the music surely qualifies it as an 'instrument'.  Just one thought though.  Why?



Wintergatan Marble Machine
built, composed, and operated by
Martin Molin of Swedish group Wintergatan        (4m30)

If you are curious about the mechanics of this invention, the following explanation and demonstration of the workings of the Wintergatan Marble Machine may be of interest.  I do not have such a brain but I did find it fascinating.  Up to a point.

[ "The Kid Should See This" has videos about the making of the machine and a piano version of the piece we heard in the main clip above.

Be careful you do not get sucked into a world of amazing explanations. Save that for after the concert! Ed. ]
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https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/the-wintergatan-marble-machine-music-made-from-2000-marbles
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If you are now in need of a calming ambience, look no further.

The steel tongue drum is a recent invention.  It belongs to the family of instruments called idiophones - these include xylophone, cymbal, woodblock, gong - basically anything you bang with an implement, whose material then vibrates to create the sound.

I would call the following an oriental version of the Caribbean steel drum and, in this specific iteration, it gives us - in the language of classicfm - soothing bliss.

Lin Hai (b1969)
Pipa Language        (2m05)

Peaceful Chinese Music, performed by April Yang on the Tank Drum, or Steel Tongue Drum

instrument available on AliExpress, price US$200

April Yang also plays Pipa Language on the Kalimba, here:
youtu.be/mA7QsPTU1WI   (2m30)
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I first encountered the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas more years ago than I care to remember.  Since its inception in the late 1980s, it has developed into a highly profitable show with groups performing all over the world.

The basic concept of 'blue' men, art, humour and highly accomplished musicianship still remains a unique entertainment.  One of their specialities is performing on PVC pipes.  Some four years ago, the group was bought by Cirque du Soleil.

This is a very short but endearing excerpt.  There are many longer ones on youtube that are well worth a visit.



Holiday Songs on PVC Instrument        (1m45)

performed by Blue Man Group

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And to continue with the technique of hitting things, I found the following performance from Kaboom Percussion rather sweet and gentle.  It does prove, of course, that if we were ever stuck on a desert island with only the world's rejected plastic for company, there would still be a way to make enjoyable music!



Disney Medley        (4m45)


arranged and performed by Kaboom Percussion's founders, Catherine Betts & Joshua Webster, in Perth Australia

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And finally, I have saved the best for last. 

Top of my list of favourites is the Typewriter Concerto.  The performer is undoubtedly a Show-off par excellence!

Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
La maquina de escribir    The Typewriter  (1950)        (4m35)


performed by Voces para la Paz (Voices for Peace),
Miguel Roa, director and soloist Alfredo Anaya, in Madrid's Auditorio Nacional de Música, 12th June 2011
I hope you have had fun with today's eclectic mix. 

As this is my last curating of a virtual concert (she hopes, Ed), I look forward to meeting you personally at one of our regular lunchtime concerts soon! 

Keep well.

Lynda Chang
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OVERTIME


Peter does not believe in compulsory overtime, but he seems quite keen on HSGOF - Hear Seven, Get One Free. So, just for those still intrigued by what might be out there in weird instrument land, he hopes you will be pleased with this little bonus item.

After playing the Ondes Martinot piece, youtube rolled straight into this performance of Debussy's Clair de lune, on the Theremin, with piano accompaniment. Relax, and enjoy.


Achille Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Clair de lune    Moonlight        (5m25)

performed by Grégoire Blanc, theremin, and Oran Donnadieu, piano, in the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte,
Melun, 55km to the SE of Paris

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We hope you have enjoyed Lynda Chang's selection of you tube video recordings exploring some of the world's Unusual, Rare . . . or just plain Weird !

Next week, each of our contributors this year - that's both Peters, Liz, Lynda, Richard and David -  will propose one or two items for our final selection, entitled

Summer Music Fest

- if it has anything to do with Summer you can be sure one of us has suggested it!
after that, we will take a short break, preparing to go LIVE at

Leatherhead Methodist Church

from Thursday July 22nd

comments welcome:    [email protected]
▼ last week's concert selection ▼
▼ next week's selection concert ▼
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We need your help to fund our concerts recorded 'as live' by professional musicians
► Did you listen ?
►Did you remember to give afterwards ?

Here is a further chance to do so

If the concerts cover their costs we will be able to do more.

Please donate now !

Many thanks to those who have donated already.
You set us all a great example !
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These nine concert recordings for Leatherhead
remain online

click on the buttons below to Listen (and watch) Again

and please tell your friends about them too !

Iñigo Mikeleiz Berrade
accordion / bayan player
JS Bach ♦ Albéniz ♦ Camarero
Rafael Marino Arcaro
José Sáenz de Garmendia 
'Pepe Andoain'  ♦ Joaquin Larregla

Buck Brass
trumpet • horns • trombone
Gabrieli  •  Brahms
Thomas Adams   •  Steven Verhelst
Wilhelm Peterson-Berger
Glazunov  •  Mozart

Ibrahim Aziz
treble, bass & Renaissance viols
Diego Ortiz ♦ Rebecca Rowe ♦ Tobias Hume
Bach ♦ Le Sieur de Machy ♦ Telemann
Le Sieur de Sainte-Colombe ♦ Carlos Martínez Gil

Thomas Ang
piano
Bülow ♦ Liszt ♦ Amy Beach
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Phil Hopkins
chromatic harmonica
Stuart Whatton piano
JS Bach • Fauré • Gershwin
John Barry • Scott Joplin • Debussy

Carmenco

flute, voice &
2 guitars
the story, told by
Carmen

organist
Marion Bettsworth
Bach • Böhm • Chaminade
Vierne • Ireland

Diphonon
viola & accordion
Duo
Handel • Britten • de Falla
Taboada • Lohse • Marais

Jazz on Thursday
with pianist
Eddie Lee
performing a selection of his own arrangements
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Never miss a concert . . .

Our weekly* newsletter tells you about upcoming concerts and other local music events

*weekly - only during the weekly concert season, occasional at other times
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Concert Selections Still Available

for your listening on this Website:

Please click on a title to go to the concert webpage
• Marina Kan's 2020 AGM Piano Concert

• Concert for St George's Day and Shakespeare's Birthday

• Music on May Day

• Music for VE Day 75th Anniversary

• Piano à Deux - Linda Ang Stoodley & Robert Stoodley, 4 hands on 1 piano

• Clocks & Cathedrals (musical clocks, that is)

• Guitars & Friends - a guitar medley

• Beethoven & Haydn String Quartets

• Cello Tango - from solos to multi cellists

• Organs of Paris  ♥ Les Orgues de Paris

• Flute Fest

• Virtual Viola, hosted by Lynda Chang

• Multi Piano - pianos from two to 12 at a time

• From Sackbutt to Trombone

• Harp Haven - our President's 100th Birthday Concert

• Oboe Omnibus

• Gentle Guitar

• Music for Unusual Instruments

• Viola da Gamba, hosted by Ibrahim Aziz

• Music & the Military

• Choral Music

• Clarinet Compilation, hosted by Lynda Chang

• The Voice, hosted by Lynda Chang

• Beethoven 250, hosted by Peter Horsfield

• Eddie Lee's Jazz on Thursday - recorded as live for MoT & Arts e-Live

• Diphonon viola & accordion Duo - recorded as live for MoT & Arts e-Live

• Marion Bettsworth & organ of St Michael's Highgate - recorded as live for Arts e-Live

• CarmenCo - Carmen's Story in flute, voice & guitars - recorded as live for Arts e-Live

• Phil Hopkins, harmonica, Stuart Whatton, piano,
            From JS Bach to film music composer John Barry - recorded as live for MoT & Arts e-Live

• Musical Fireworks - a musical selection

• Music of the Musicals up to 1960 - a musical selection

• Thomas Ang's 2021 AGM Piano Concert - recorded as Live for Music on Thursdays

• Vivaldi 343rd Birthday Selection - hosted by Peter Steadman

• Saint-Saëns Centenary Selection - hosted by Peter Horsfield

• Music for the Lute - hosted by Lynda Chang

• Musicals 1960 to 1990 - hosted by Peter Steadman

• Ibrahim Aziz plays Renaissance viol, treble viol, bass viol - recorded 'as live'

• Music for Royal Weddings Selection - hosted by Peter Steadman

• Albinoni 350 Selection - hosted by Peter Steadman
 
• Yehudi Menuhin 105th Anniversary - hosted by Lynda Chang

• Sexual Intrigue in Opera - hosted by Liz Barnes

• Buck Brass  Trio/Quartet - trumpet, horns, trombone - recorded 'as live'

• String Quartet Movements - hosted by Lynda Chang

• Stravinsky & Disney - a match made in heaven ? - hosted by Lynda Chang

• ORGANS: Spectacular • Captivating • Unique - hosted by David Biggs

• Julian Bream guitarist extraordinaire - hosted by Richard Miller
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Visit the making music channel on youtube

You will find lots of music videos recorded during lockdown

click on the logo
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