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Classical
music
entertainment ideas for any event | |||
Do you need a few ideas? Many people associate some live classical music entertainment only with wedding ceremonies and receptions, but you can add a special touch to any event or party, be it a conference, a graduation ceremony, a birthday, a cruise, a garden party, a special dinner, a dance or theatrical show, a romantic evening, when you want to propose your girlfriend, whatever you can think of.And you want folk music instead of classical, you can have it, click here. If you are in a hurry and have no clue about music entertainment, click any of the following links to skip straight to the page section that interests you, otherwise keep reading and you'll get there anyway Which instruments? - Something different? Music entertainment ideas (repertoire)  wonderful to hear a solo viola (&
played so well) |  A reception with classical music entertainment in the Masters' Garden, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford  Above and below: reception music in Oriel College, Oxford, for a school of English, welcoming foreign students  | ||
The shortest history ofclassical music entertainmentIn the past, before the advent of recorded music, radio, TV, cinema etc. (which are wonderful inventions, I'm not implying anything against them) this is what people used to do.When meeting, instead of putting a CD on, turn radio or TV on, watch a film on a cassette or DVD, as we do now, people would play their own instruments or have somebody play music to entertain them. Most of what is called "chamber music" (as opposed to church music, or operas or symphonic music and works composed for big celebrations) was written and published to be played at home by more or less skilled amateurs for their own pleasure, or by professionals invited at somebody else's home. Even a lot of the classical music which is today performed in formal concerts, was conceived as part of a bigger entertainment event. The most famous examples are Handel's Water music (performed in 1717 for a royal party, a journey on the River Thames from Whitehall to Chelsea and back) and the Music for the Royal Fireworks (performed in 1749 at fireworks display in Green Park, London, for the celebrations of the Peace Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle). Now I'll mention here only some very famous composers and curious examples of music entertainment for private use:
Many things have changed over the time, but why not have the same music entertainment today, your very personal performance for you and your guests, maybe even with your favourite music? Having a contact with real, living performers will make it special indeed. Watch this videoBach, Choral
Jesu, joy of man's desiring |  Here, in Christ Church Cathedral Masters’ Garden, Oxford, with the Registrar and the Dean  In the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda's College, Oxford, welcoming foreign students of English  Music for a private reception in a hotel in Oxford  | ||
You'll see that this entertainment can fit any place, at home, in a museum, in a garden, on a boat, at a restaurant or in a college, especially if yours is in a small venue or with a small group of guests or you don't want to spend a lot with many players. You can also find here suggestions and links about a few venues in and around Oxford which can be hired for corporate and private events and where you can have music too. |  Music for a cruise party on the river Thames | ||
This is a reception in the Ashmolean
Museum
in Oxford, a really awesome venue where you can surround yourself and
your guest with antiquities and art masterworks! See here some
Greek and Roman sculptures. Did you know
it?
It's available for conferences, meetings, corporate events (and you
also help to
support the museum). | |||
| Many
times, when someone organizes a reception, especially a small
one,
they don't know where to find musicians. Some venues, like restaurants
or hotels may have their musician, often a pianist.
You can
either have him play for you or choose to have somebody else, in either
case, you'd have to ask them as to what to do. Another very common option (there are many agencies providing musicians for weddings), can be a string quartet, that is usually composed of four string players (2 violins, viola and cello, with some variations), although four players are more expensive than one and if you go with an agency they will, rightly, charge their share. So, if you are looking for some music entertainment in Oxford or not very far from it, you may want to consider a soloist playing an easily movable instrument, so what about... |  More music entertainment for another short boat cruise on the river Thames in Oxford | ||
Something different? | |||
So,
you'd like to have something different, unusual? Then a
solo viola
(or with piano if there is one) is the answer (most people would say "violin" when they
see it). The
viola has a warm, mellow tone and once you hear it you’ll love it. At
your ceremony and reception you can have a variety of works, from
classical, to folk, opera arias and
I could even play your favourite one.
Also being the viola a portable
instrument, it can be
easily moved around the venue so, even if it's large, everybody can
have his
or her own personal
music performance (see photo below) and you won't see unsightly music
stand and sheet music flying around (especially outdoor with some
breeze), everything is played from memory. beautiful
mellow tone |  A reception in the Mallett Gallery of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford | ||
Music entertainment ideasFor your reception, function or party, the choice of music is vast and free. It's nice to have a variety of music genres, styles and moods, therefore I play a mix of classical and folk music, lively and slow. You can listen to some music clips, click each name and watch videos. I warmly recommend you to use your headphones for better results! Have a look and see how this ideas for music entertainment could fit your special event too, from famous classical music pieces to folk tunes and songs. Click the name to listen to a sample. SOLO VIOLA VIOLA AND PIANO SOLO VIOLABach, Courante n.1 Classical musicBach, Cello Suites n.1 & 3 (Prélude 1, Allemande 1, Courante 1, Sarabande 1, Menuet 1, Gigue 1; Prélude 3, Allemande 3, Courante 3, Sarabande 3, Bourrée 3, Gigue 3), Air on the G string, Choral “Jesus, joy of Man's desiring”, BWV147Bernstein,
Maria Handel, Largo,
form Xerse Mascagni, Intermezzo from “Cavalleria
rusticana” (video) Massenet, Meditation form "Thais" Mozart,
“Voi che sapete” from Marriage of Figaro, “Là ci
darem la mano” from Don Giovanni Pachelbel, Canon Paganini, Adagio cantabile Puccini,
“E lucean le stelle” from Tosca, “Ch’ella mi creda”
from The girl from the west Stamitz,
Viola Concerto Telemann,
Viola Concerto (Largo, Allegro, Adagio,
Presto)
Vivaldi, Adagio from the Winter Bach, Prélude n.1 Bach, from Cello suite n.3 BWV 1009: Sarabande, Bernstein, Maria from West Side Story Mascagni, Intermezzo from “Cavalleria rusticana” Folk musicHere is a list of folk music I play: English, Scottish, Irish, American, songs and dances (waltzes, jigs, etc.), including some of the most famous ones, which will make some people start to sing along: The greenwood tree, The south wind, Fanny Power, Michael Turner’s waltz, Iron legs, Sportsman’s hornpipe, The road to Lisdonvaarna, Greensleeves, Ye banks and braes, Skye boat song, My Bonnie, My love is like a red red rose, Ashokan farewell, Inneshere, Old Danny boy, Carrickfergus, Philadelphia soldier's joy, Bonaparte’s retreat, Dark island, Sally Gardens, The land of my fathers (Welsh National anthem). Watch my videos of some of the above tunes Carrickfergus, Sally Gardens, The greenwood tree, The south wind, Michael Turner’s waltz, Miss Rowan Davies, Sportsman’s hornpipe and The road to Lisdoonvarna Fanny Power If you have a favourite tune, ask me, I can play it especially for you VIOLA AND PIANOIf you have a piano in your house or other venue, why not offer your guests a special musical entertainment? For your private reception, here are some suitable works, which can be alternated with some solo piano and solo viola works: Johann
Sebastian Bach, Sonata
n. 3 in G minor for viola and piano And if you'd like to organize something bigger classical music entertainment or more formal like a concert, you can choose some works with a small or medium sized orchestra, such as:
|  Reception in Oxford  Classical music entertainment at a reception in Oxford Town Hall Link to Oxford Town Hall  Again, in Christ Church Cathedral Masters’ Garden, Oxford, another garden party  Reception music in Oriel College, Oxford, for a school of English, welcoming foreign students | ||
|
Viola
and orchestra
or Violin,
viola and orchestra or even 2 Violas and
orchestra Or you can have the music of your choice organized especially for you, just ask! How much? | |||
I bet you're wondering now, how much is my music entertainment going to cost me? First of all, maybe it’s necessary to remind, since some people tend to forget it, that professionals musicians are professionals exactly like accountants, dentists etc. and in order to maintain a high quality standard they need to be paid professional rates. Therefore, when you pay for a music performance, like any professional service, you don’t pay just for that one or two hours the musician(s) spends there, you need to take into account the preparation of that service, that is the time spent to practice and learn the pieces of music and expenses (if you ever tried to learn to play an instrument you’ll understand what it takes, if you’ve never done it I’d encourage you to start learning one now, just to see what it means). Of
course, you can always find someone
willing to do it for nearly no money but ask yourself why? If it’s a
friend of
yours who wants to do it as a present for you, fine, it’s a different
matter,
otherwise the answer is simple: like anything else, they're not doing
it professionally and you
get what you pay for. Would
you book your venue,
catering, photographer and everything else for your
party or event from someone who's not a professional in his or her
business,
based on
the price
only, choosing the cheapest you can get? Even if
you are on a tight
budget, there has to be a balance between the price and the quality. Having said that, the price for some music entertainment depends on many factors, like the number of performers and duration of the event. Generally speaking, the more players there are, the less they get paid individually (within limits) and vice versa. This is because within a group the responsibility on each player is less heavy than the responsibility a duo or a soloist have. It’s easy to understand, if you are a solo player and something doesn’t go quite right, there is nobody around to blame. The difficulties of the music pieces are all on the shoulders of one or two players. Besides this, not all musicians feel happy about playing solo, so this reduces the number of solo/duo performers available. As to duration, the minimum is generally one hour, for example for a graduation ceremony only, including some time before and after it for congratulations, photos, etc., when you can have some music played. However, from my experience, most private and corporate events will last from two to three hours, from when you guests start to arrive to when most of them have left, so consider having musician(s) at your venue for about three hours. So, to recapitulate, duo or solo
performers are more expensive individually, Anyway,
regardless of the style you
choose and the amount of money you want to spend, I’d recommend you to
always book professional players,
people
who have experience and will really help you to organise this event and
make it really memorable for you and your guests. Thanks for your visit, contact me for more information, to send a comment or to book your music entertainment or for a live chat call: (UK) 07985 025129.
|  Performance with a dance company at Broughton Castle. Here we were on the top of a very thick wall
A garden tea party in the Masters’ Garden of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. As you can see, this is a large garden and I was wandering around between the guests’ tables so that everybody could hear the music and we could also exchange a few words. Link to Christ Church Cathedral  Music at a birthday dinner | ||
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