Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia

Subject: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: alison
Date: 08 Apr 00 - 02:49 AM

This is not folk or blues, but it is "music"...

has anyone got any recordings of the Portsmouth Sinfonia??

they play badly out of tune and off pitch classical stuff but it is so bad that it is entertaining...

to give you a taste try here .. but I have had no luck finding recordings....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 08 Apr 00 - 06:30 AM

G'day Alison,

A friend of mine has a few LPs (or had them a few decades back) ... He bought them after attending another friend's party where they snuck into the play stack late in the night to see how well everyone was handling their drink!

I'll ask if he can still find them (it is Ralph Pride, folk fiddler with Flying Wombats and sundry other groups - and playing with The Heritage Ensemble that I am organising for the Bush Music Club's Heritage Ball 2000).

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: john c
Date: 08 Apr 00 - 12:25 PM

Now theres a coincidence - I was just talking about them yesterday. From what I can recall, they were a bunch of students who had little or no idea of the instruments they were playing and specialized in attempting their own versions of the more popular light classics. God, they were awful! They started more or less together, everybody made their own merry way through the piece, and finished whenever they ran out of steam!
Actually, the reason they came up to my mind, was hearing the first public performance of my girlfriends new ska band. Just hope she doesnt read this.........
J.

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: alison
Date: 09 Apr 00 - 02:03 AM

Bob that would be wonderful if he still had them....

they weren't all terrible, some very virtuosos, many weren't!! But it was an orchestra where everyone could have a go ... hence the tunings and weird sounds.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Apr 00 - 02:48 AM

Noel Edmonds made them famous on his weekend radio shows (yes,it was that long ago) as the Prittlewell School Orchestra..... Their version of Mozarts' Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a scream!!

LTS

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: alison
Date: 09 Apr 00 - 03:04 AM

They were also used as the background music on EBC1 (Emu Broadcasting Corporation... with Rod Hull and Emu... aaarrgghhhh).....

they also did a great version of Hooked on Classics where the hand claps and everything were dreadfully out of rhythm....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Apr 00 - 03:19 AM

Yes, but all Hooked on Classic records had out of rythmn handclaps = everyone who appears on TV or Radio, clapping along to anything is rythmically challenged......

LTS

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: alison
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 03:18 AM

well I have just received 3 CDs (Rock classics, Popular classics, and Hallelujah)in the post.... and am listening to a really bad version of "leader of the pack".... brilliant......

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Not Folk : Portsmouth Sinfonia
From: Duane D.
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 03:51 PM

A friend of mine has 1 LP of their's and made me a cassette copy, which I have used to introduce many folks to them. The people I've met who are most interested in this recording are High School orchestra and band teachers. This recording has a tendency to improve the self-esteem of their students, knowing they can play better than the recording. I find the selections to be very entertaining. It seems the only requirement to join was to have an instrument. I saw the record cover and the members were not young folks. Many appeared to be approaching middle age. They seemed to take their playing very seriously, despite the way sounded.

Duane.