For the past twenty-three years, Helen Hooker has been aiming to conduct all the English SRP branches, and it was mission accomplished at the beginning of October when she came to take charge of the Warwickshire Branches Playing Day at Nuneaton, which was the final destination on her list.
The first piece played was Anthony Holborne’s gentle suite of Four Dances, dating from the Tudor period, comprising Bona Speranza, The Teares of the Muses, The Honie-Suckle and The Fairie-Round. This was followed by Helen’s arrangement of La Vita Caduca (The Transitory Life) written in 1705 by the Italian Baroque composer Antonio Lotti, a chorister and organist at St Mark’s in Venice.
By contrast, Helen next chose the five diverse sequences – Autumn Song, Reverie, Jogging Song, Love So
ng and Perky Song – of Steve Marshall’s Songs Without Words collection.
After this came two more of Helen’s arrangements: the Menuetto movement from Symphony No. 39, K. 343, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and after giving us a choice for the finale, Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred work Esurientes Implevit Bonis – The Hungry He Filled With Good Things (from the Magnificat).
After a two-year postponement because of the inevitable Covid
restrictions, it was a great joy at last to be able to host this event. We wish to express our gratitude to Helen for bringing us such a delightful selection of music, and inspiring us all with her wise words and enthusiasm, and to thank everyone who attended. It was lovely to see so many recorder players gathered together, many of whom had travelled a considerable distance and rescheduled their own events in order to be with us. In addition, we wish to say a big thank you to everyone whose hard work contributed towards making this such a memorable day.
V.M.Goode
16.10.2022