2 September 2005

Men in tights

It looks set to be a scorching weekend but we are, once again, abandoning our allotment. This time it’s in favour of a jaunt to Nottingham to visit friends and to have a no doubt terrible rehearsal as part of the Atavar Trio.

Back in the mists of time, when we were but young things, I threw together a woodwind quintet called the Harmonic Oscillators. I wouldn’t say we were exactly fêted in the musical community at University, but we received some good reviews and generally had a brilliant time. Over time, the world of work and responsibility took its toll and our merry band dissolved. We gradually lost touch as a fivesome (so if you’re out there Richard Bassoon and Dan French Horn, get in touch!), but the three of us still in Nottingham continued to visit pubs together.

Then, last year, someone had a bright idea. Actually, that someone was our good friend Viv - putting together a concert in aid of Dyspraxia Connexion she thought it might be a good idea if the three of us played something. So, I dusted off my flute, Owen took his oboe out of storage and Phil (who had sneakily been practising his clarinet on the quiet) ordered us some music (no mean feat - there’s not much of quality written for this particular combo) and we put together some kind of programme.

We had such good fun playing together again and we performed absolutely incredibly (after considerable practice). One of the most wonderful things about the Oscillators when we were together (aside from the fact that as the only woman I had four men to boss around) was that we knew each other really well and that was reflected in how we played. It was more by accident than design and it got us out of holes at times when the music would start to go astray. By the time of the Trio, however, we three really do know each other well and we exploited that to enhance the performance, actively making use of what before was simply a fortuitous safety net.

So, although I have not played my flute for over a year and I know that my lips are going to be pretty much shredded by the end of the weekend I am really looking forward to getting together, looking at some new music and planning a concert of our own. We are going to have a riot.

Even if it does mean that I will be coming back to monster french beans.

Filed under: Mulch — Clare @ 10:01 am