An audience of 44 attended the Pat and Ann's Christmas Concert that was held at the Club on Friday evening 11th December, but calling it just 'Pat and Ann's' does not reflect the full line up of distinguished musicians who gave us such an enjoyable evening!
Pat brought his fellow Pro Musica Quartet members Keith Lewis -
During the course of the evening, in between numbers played, there were some delightful and informative exchanges between Pat and Tony, sometimes the exchange was a little bit of history about the piece, its composer, and sometimes it was about other musicians who had played it.
A noteworthy snippet we were told was that Tony played in Count Basie's band, and a look at Tony's CV on Wikipedia reveals other famous bands that he's played in. That CV also tells us that the tenor sax soloist in the Henry Mancini score for the Pink Panther films, is..…, is......., Tony Coe!
Pat Halling Xmas Concert 11 December 2009 Updated
Aren't we honoured to have contributors with such skills, asking to come and play at our humble little sailing club, tucked away down in its remote riverside location. And indeed, whilst there might be some hyperbole about how I've described the club and its location, it is a fact that it was Pat who asked Aquarius to host this Concert, and we hear that he was very pleased at the numbers who came to listen. Yes, Pat, we thank you for thanking us, but we think that we got the better half of the arrangement! (or should that be the arrangements?).
The evening commenced with the Quartet playing the classic piece 'Spring' from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi, followed by them playing the Skye boat song. Then Tony came in with the Quartet and they played the Debussy 'Petite Piece.' Some information was given to us about Debussy, (1862-
The five musicians continued with 'Menuetto' from the Clarinet quintet by Mozart, and then Tony rested while the Quartet played three compositions by Fritz Kreisler, 'Liebesleid' 'Liebesfreud' and 'Schon Rosmarin.' Tony came back in, and the 5 played 'Have you met Miss Jones' 'Stardust' and 'There'll Never Be Another You'. All absolutely spell-
The final four pieces of the evening were played by the Quartet and Tony. They were; 'Moonlight in Vermont', 'Summertime' (fantastic!) 'Sophisticated Lady', and 'It Don't Mean A Thing If It Aint Got That Swing, after which Pat invited the audience to join in by humming along to them playing 'Silent Night.'
This, the final number, was a fittingly seasonal Christmas Carol on which to end a hugely enjoyable evening, as evidenced by the rousing applause given to the musicians.
Many thanks to Rodger and Linda Wheeler for their efforts in organising the event including the interval buffet.
Frank Rainsborough
We received the the following from Pat. “Quartet Pro Musica and Guest artist Tony Coe would like to say a very big thank you to all at AQSC. It was so kind of the club to allow us to have our Christmas party at the clubhouse. We hope you all enjoyed at least some of the music!!! Finally our extra special thanks to Rodger and Linda without whom we would never have got the concert off the ground. they both did such a large amount of work behind the scenes; we can't thank them enough. Also we must not forget Stewart, Don, Peter, Richard, Frank and many others who all helped to make the evening run smoothly. We Wish You a Very Happy Christmas and good sailing in 2010.
Ann/Pat/Keith/David/Myrtle and Tony”
Tony Coe
Pat Halling