Come On You Kay

I loves me some sport and art: I am currently trying to promote a performance rematch of the Watford Vs Crystal Palace Championship play-off, in which Richard Dedominici, me and Elton John challenge Palace supporters Eddie Izzard and Mark Thomas to a dance showdown at the Traverse. And I love The Scottish Ensemble: they do that mix and match programming that has the old and the new side by side, making sure that at least half of the tunes have melodies before the other half shoots off into the abstract.

But I am not sure about this...

Britain vs. Germany21 October Aberdeen / 22 October Edinburgh / 23 October Glasgow / 24 October Perth / 26 October London

In October, SE is staging the classic musical football match of Britain vs. Germany. British string music has always formed an important part of the Ensemble’s work and here it is contrasted against German compositional forces in a concert of two halves. A string classic and a new work by both British and German composers, SE invites its audience to root for its team and come along to decide who wins this particular match. 

Walton: Sonata for Strings
Leopold Hurt : Dead Reckoning
Martin Suckling: Musical Postcards 1-4
Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major (arr. Morton)

It's not the music - Brahms is always a grand finale, and the Postcards have been part of the SE's repertoire for the past year, although this will be the first time they are performed in one go. I just don't think that Britain has ever competed against Germany as a united body in football. In fact, the one time I remember it being a big deal (and that didn't involve the UK team crashing out in the quarter final on penalties), it was West Germany Vs England in 1966. 

I am sure that there is some other thing that the two nations, united, competed against each other...