Not Burns' night

In January last year we celebrated Burns Night with a ‘tartan mixture’ of Scottish music, poetry and appropriate food. This year we enjoyed an evening celebrating with a menu of English, Irish and Welsh music put together by Club members. The refreshments and raffle reflected the national theme.

Janet Presley took us through five centuries of English music in just 30 minutes, showing just how rich and varied our music was. As a starter it was nice and sweet! Then Tony Cawston introduced us to three Irish-born composers – John Field (inventor of the Nocturne), Hamilton Harty (composer of the John Field Suite) and Stanford, who taught Ivor Gurney, amongst others. Tony ended with some traditional folk-inspired music.

To finish the evening Robert Crockford took us to Wales, land of song and poetry. Starting with three 20th century composers – Mathias, Hoddinott and Grace Williams – we heard the sound of choirs, soloists and wind bands, followed by Dylan Thomas at his best in ‘Under Milk Wood’. The grand finale was Cwm Rhondda (Bread of Heaven) during which all members joined in with great gusto. It was just like Cardiff Arms Park!