Beaumont School Music Department

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Henry Threadgill - Old Locks and Irregular Verbs Pt. 4 Jazz meets contemporary 'Classical' music in this chamber piece by American composer Henry Threadgill. Mr G We all say quite casually sometimes how music can change your life. I genuinely believe it can and that everyone's experience will be different.  Listen here to  Six brand new monologues developed and produced by BBC Writersroom celebrating the transformative power of music. Ms D

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Alexander D Great - Haiti This week Year 10 were visited by Calypsonian musician Alexander D Great. He performed some of his songs and together they wrote a simple Calypso. His songs were amazing, but I was particular struck by 'Haiti', the tune for which Alex was awarded the title of 'London Calypso Monarch' in 2010. Written after the earthquake which destroyed Haiti in 2010, it investigates many of the issues plaguing the country. - Mr G The Mendelssohn Octet reminds me of some really fun university days. I remember rehearsing this on a summer's evening in Brasenose Chapel, very much like tonight, and loving it and loving life. An absolutely cracking piece of chamber music.  Enjoy. - Ms D

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Django Bates - Saluting Sgt. Pepper The impending 50th Anniversary of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' will produce a plethora of articles/releases about this classic album, so here is mine. Crazy jazzman Django Bates is releasing a tribute album with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band. It is worth checking out. A sample track is available on the Bandcamp page (click the link above). Oh, and also, Mr Burrett did a gig with him once. - Mr G As the Vocal Ensemble and Male Voice Choir prepare for their performance of Carmina Burana with  S t Albans Choral Society , here is a very lovely soprano solo from the work: In trutina . Scroll to 3:38. - Ms D

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Andrew Sparling - New works for clarinet NMC Recordings is a fantastic label for new music. I just stumbled across this album while working (I found it on a Spotify playlist curated by composer Anna Meredith ). The disc is full of variety; there is something for everyone. The title takes you to the Spotify album, and the link below takes you to the album's page on the label's website. Andrew Sparling - New works for clarinet (NMC) - Mr G I'm playing in a really lovely concert on Saturday. You should all come. If you are in Year 10 or 11, you have no excuse really. Difficult to pick a highlight from the programme for me, but I shall go for Beethoven's 2nd Piano Concerto in B flat Major. The conductor and soloist here is the renowned Daniel Barenboim: - Ms D

'Jazz Is The Mother Of Hip-Hop': How Sampling Connects Genres In this short doc, Robert Glasper identifies three jazz samples, from tracks by  Ahmad Jamal  and  Herbie Hancock , that have served as source material for famed hip-hop producers  J Dilla  and  Pete Rock . It is cool. Watch it. Mr G For those of you who are interested in History as well as Music, BBC Radio 3 is having a Luther  season . This focusses on the impact that Martin Luther and the Reformation had on the rest of history and music.  For Year 12, this is essential listening in preparing for the Bach Cantata and will give context to your set work as being such fascinating time in history.  The first 15 minute programme was last night on Radio 3. Listen again here . Enjoy. Ms D

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Ron Carter - So What (Album) 'So What' is most commonly associated with the great Miles Davis. Here is it the opening track on this (slightly) obscure jazz trio album. Ron Carter is an exceptional bass player who elevates the instrument to a true vehicle for jazz improvisation. Enjoy this record. - Mr. G Prelude on Rhosymedre  by Ralph Vaughan Williams Sometimes it's the lesser known works which you hold dearly. I came across this prelude on a Welsh hymn when I was in Year 10. My music teacher was Welsh and loved finding arrangements of the music of his homeland. We performed this in our school orchestra and I instantly loved it. It's probably the emergence of a slow hymn tune from a larger texture which I really love.  Originally an organ piece, here is the work as arranged for a strin...

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Jammin' the Blues (1944) A 1944 short film from Warner Bros., featuring a host of jazz legends and some amazing music. Incredible improvisation, great swing, awesome riffs; pretty much everything you could ever want in a YouTube video. Enjoy.  - Mr G I love listening to a beautiful countertenor voice singing stunning Baroque music. Here is the sublime Iestyn Davies singing Handel's Eternal Source of Light Divine  from his Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne. Plus heavenly trumpet playing. Happy Tuesday.  Ms D

Beaumont Music Department presents  Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Gamelan Galak Tika A group combining the music of the Balinese Gamelan with a whole variety of styles from around the world. Led by composer Evan Ziporyn, this group are amazing and their music is crazy and fun. This is sure to go down well with students in KS4 and 5 - but trust me, these guys are amazing. - Mr G Despite being away in Pembrokeshire, I couldn’t resist contributing to Tuesday Tunes. This week is Holy Week in the Christian Calendar and it brings back very fond memories of visiting Buckfast Abbey for the Easter weekend and singing for the services from Maundy Thursday through to Easter Sunday.  There is nothing better for the soul than making music with friends and for years, a group of us from Oxford and another from Cambridge (brought together by two very close friends) would get toge...

Beaumont Music Department presents Tuesday Tunes ; weekly recommendations for all audiences, curated by the Beaumont Music staff. Recommendations for this week: Discovering Music - John Adams: City Noir Composer John Adams turns 70 this year, so expect to hear a lot of his music being performed and discussed. City Noir is a stunning work for orchestra, evoking the murky world of American film noir from the 1950s.  The composer characterises the work as ' jazz -inflected symphonic music' (though I prefer 'jazz-infused')  - right up my street.  Here it discussed and performed on this excellent radio programme from the BBC Radio 3 archives. - Mr G Discovering Music - Concerto Grosso and Beyond This is perfect for Year 10. The Baroque form of the Concerto Grosso is one of the most under-celebrated musical forms, and I spent many happy years playing these as I grew up in my teens. This programme covers Baroque Concerto Grosso and how it influences composers a...