Sunday, 12 July 2009

Musical saturday

A busy Saturday, music-wise. The morning and early afternoon fully occupied by a wedding not far away. I can never decide if Wedding Vows are beautiful and moving, or just plain stupid. Perhaps it's because they're a bit of both that they're special. Anyway the bride was plumping for the moving option, since she had trouble getting the words out, crying as she was.

The Harmonie played its usual supporting rôle, playing stirring or calm music at appropriate points. But this wedding was a bit different, in that the couple decided not to have the usual piano/organ accompaniment to the songs, but instrumentalists from the band instead. So two flutes (Mad Lucy and I) and two trombones (Gilles and Laurent) accompanied the hymns. You might think the trombones would drown the flutes, but they're far enough apart in pitch that both carried well. And I could play the two-part close harmony, which I love to do, with Lucy :)


Home for lunch, then almost immediately off to the Medieval Festival at St Suzanne. A carnival of medieval things, featuring dancing, performances of dogs, horses, mock swordfights, concerts and so on. The Harmonie got togged up in medieval costume and played a programme of medieval music that Gilles had slaved over for weeks to produce. We had only had one rehearsal, but it all went swimmingly.


















The motley crew known as the Harmonie of St Suzanne, in medieval costume. Would you buy a used car (or tune) from this bunch? (Click on the image to see a larger version)














And as an afternote, today, Sunday, my veg patch is yielding even more strawberries, and what I am pleased to call space-ship squash cos they look like flying saucers. Should be nice for dinner tonight.
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5 comments:

  1. Lia12 July 2009 at 13:14

    Oooooh, aren't you pretty in your dress!!!!
    Ok I'll play nice and not make jokes about how the colour suits you and matches your eyes.

    Oh so many things to say...must control myself....too tempting!!!!!

    Tee hee, you all look so grand in your costumes and it sounds like you had a very good day.
    Must be lovely to play at some ones wedding, although a bit nerve racking maybe.

    much love
    lia xx

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  2. ReedBunting13 July 2009 at 01:42

    Wow, great costume! And it looks like you had a fabulous venue too. It's also fantastic to see the fruits of your labour from the garden - I've never seen squashes like that before though!

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  3. Jonathan13 July 2009 at 14:45

    Two flutes and two trombones? What an amazing combination. I'd love to have heard that. If it sounds half as good as the ensemble looks... and what a venue!

    And those yellow squashes - inspiring. I have just acquired an enormous garden, too late to grow much food this year but I'm determined to attempt some of those in 2010.

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  4. Mark In Mayenne14 July 2009 at 01:37

    Jonathan: If you have an enormous garden, I strongly recommend squashes, especially pumpkins and the like. They take up vast amounts of space that you would otherwise have to cultivate :)

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  5. Mark In Mayenne14 July 2009 at 01:37

    Lia: Thank you for your forbearance. I'm not normally that pretty :)

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