The Workshop Music - 1988-1998

Workshop is unique - it has its own music, and there’s never a need to buy new pieces once the Collection is purchased. Regular players get new music free!

The music is a mix of

• New items and items which stay from year to year.
• Traditional music and contemporary music.
• Strummed and plucked music.
• Vocal and instrumental music.
• Duets, trios, quartets, quintets and sextets.

From just 6 pieces of music in April 1988, the Workshop Collection has grown and evolved to a comprehensive collection of ensemble music with over 120 pieces.

The initial music was laboriously hand-written, but as soon as computer technology made high quality music engraving practicable and economical, our Director began the job of typesetting every single piece from scratch, completing the last pieces in early 1996, and now the Collection is fully typeset.

Shortest Life of a piece
Family of Man (Mark I), which lasted one session before being completely rewritten!

Longest Life of a piece
Streets of Laredo, Tudelsack and Where Have All The Flowers Gone, which have stayed in the Collection since day one, for posterity!

Youngest piece
In its present form, Sea Reivers has been with us for two Workshops.

Tonight’s closing piece - a brand new one, has been with us for just three.
We never stand still at Workshop!

Furthest Travelled piece
Sloop John Bach has now been played in New Zealand, 12000 miles away.

Most Famous piece
Nineteen Workshop Collection pieces are now published. “Light Blues”, containing Broadmarsh Blues, is currently outselling the others. In addition, a further 19 ensembles are in print, one of which we played at Christmas 1996, one last Christmas, and one of which we play tonight as a trio.

Best Performance
Three professional teacher/composers put some of the Collection through its paces in Maine, USA, last year, and are adding them to their teaching syllabus. But we reckon you’ll hear the best performance of the Workshop Music at our Concerts, because we are playing them - and it is the people, the we, that makes Workshop what it is!