Thomas Rushton

@thomasrushton

Classical double bassist - lots of chamber music, orchestral, and operatic experience - always looking for more musical fun; occasional oboist & cellist ditto. SQL Server DBA, working for Coeo.com supporting many clients and the team. Leeds, UK

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Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· May 8

Every time I see one of these conversations, I'm reminded of the Bloom County strip from ages ago...

Bloom County comic strip from a few decades ago. Depicts two kids having a discussion in front of a Cola vending machine. Their discussion references some now-problematic people, but this was from way before then.

Milo: Ah! Care for a refreshing cola, Mr Binkley?
Binkley: Certainly, Mr Bloom, but which cola to choose?
M: Consider, sir, that Pepsi commercials star Michael J. Fox and Michael Jackson
B: Point of order. Jackson will not actually drink soda pop.
M: True. And both Bill Cosby and Max Headroom personally endorse coke.
B: Yet the president of the Pepsi Co. has written a book describing the Coke Co. as being run by fizz-heads.
M: Counterpoint: The head of Coke has done the same in reverse.
B: Say... where do you go for your cola news?
M: Why, "USA Today" of course... for thoughtful daily coverage
B: I, myself, am an "Entertainment Tonight" man.
M: The dilemma remains. Coke or Pepsi? Or do we overlook an even more vital national issue?
B: Yes. Both taste like malted battery acid.
(Final panel - the kids are walking away from the cola machine)
M: Milk, then?
B: Lovely! Whole or skim?

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jan 22

A reproduction of some of this evening's agenda. Just one question - where do I breathe? #Oboe #CorAnglais #MustLearnCircularBreathing

The first page of Oboe 1 / Cor Anglais music for Bizet's Arlesienne Suite #1. Note the absence of any rest longer than a quaver between the start and the last line of the page. Included is the dread word: "Solo".

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jan 22

Getting horrible flashbacks to the last time I was loaned a baroque bow to play with. baroque, baroke, broken... ugh. Hateful thing. It quite spoiled the gig (Thomas Arne, "Alfred" - a rare performance of the full opera).

Heel end of a baroque bass bow, showing signs of significant repair - as in, two sets of metal rings grafting what appears to be a different main length & tip end of bow to a much darker heel end of bow.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Dec 1

Hot on the heels of last weekend's Leeds Symphony Orchestra concert, we begin rehearsing for the next one... No rest for us! #OriginalLSO #LeedsSymphonyOrchestra #Mahler

Sheet music - first page of the double bass part of Mahler's 6th Symphony

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Nov 28

My view of tomorrow night's music. Concert at 7:30pm, at The Cryer, GSAL, Leeds. It's a new venue for us (it's a new-ish venue anyway, only been there a couple of years) Tickets at www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/lee... #LiveMusic #Leeds #OriginalLSO #Loud #BattlingTimpanists

An assortment of double bass sheet music arranged on a music stand. The music:
Munktell - Brannigar
Grieg - piano concerto
Nielsen - Symphony #4 "The Inextinguishable"

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Nov 23

Today's view.

Oboe parts and other paraphernalia. Oboe sheet music for Beethoven's "Egmont" overture, Haydn symphony 104, and a Ballet suite from Gounod's "Faust"

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Nov 22

Today's view

A music stand showing double bass sheet music for Mendelssohn's overture for a midsummer night's dream, Vaughan Williams's Tuba Concerto, and Dvorak symphony 8.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Sep 6

Ugh. Here, have a stripey sheep.

A photo of a sheep, except the sheep's body has been given extra shine and black stripes running diagonally down its length, making it look like a popular mint sweet - or, a "bah, humbug". No? Oh well, someone tried...

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Sep 6

Looking at the bass parts for the next Enigma gig (20th Sept, Chester). HOW MANY SLURS? How do I do this? HOW? I've pointed this out to the MD, who's just replied with a smiley face reaction. *sigh*. If you want to find out how I deal with this, come to www.tickettailor.com/events/enigm...

Extract of a piece of music showing two notes (with a couple of passing notes) joined by five slurs all in parallel.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jul 29

Not sure where this came from, but... Yeah.

Cartoon, gravestone with the caption "Tom Lehrer, 1928-2025". Pigeons are around - one perched on the gravestone, one pecking at crumbs on the ground, and, in homage to one of his songs, one is feet up, presumably poisoned.

Author / illustrator presumed to be "BANX" as that name appears top left.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jul 15

Something to play, for gits & shiggles, is Hummel's clarinet quartet, if only for the movement known as "Seccatura": Pick a time signature, any time signature...

close up of the first bar(ish) of a movement of Hummel's Clarinet Quartet, showing the individual parts having their own time signatures.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jul 5

Poster for tonight's gig with #LeedsSymphonyOrchestra #OriginalLSO #LiveMusic #ClassicalMusic #Leeds #Yorkshire #Copland #Hindemith #SaintSaens because why not tag those guys as well? It's going to be loud.

Advertising poster for a Leeds Symphony Orchestra concert. Useful text includes:
Saturday 5th July 2025, 7:30pm
St Bartholomew's Church, Armley, LS12 1SR

LSO - Leeds Symphony Orchestra

Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis
Copland - Billy the Kid (Ballet Suite)
Saint-Saens - Symphony No. 3 in C minor "Organ Symphony", Organist: Shaun Turnbull

Conductor: John Lyon
Leader: Alison Major

Ticket prices: Adults £12, Students £5, Under 18s Free.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jul 4

An unusual rehearsal for me, inasmuch as I'm not the biggest instrument in use in this concert - towering above us is the organ in St Bartholomew's Church in Armley. A loud concert tomorrow @ 7:30pm. Copland, Hindemith, and, of course, Saint-Saens's 3rd Symphony (organ symphony, if you must)

Photo from today's rehearsal of some of Leeds Symphony Orchestra, from the vantage point of the double bass section, looking back over the wind section at the rather large organ towering above us. In the foreground to the right is rather inconveniently-placed wooden statue/carving of St Bartholomew.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jun 22

To paraphrase the T-Shirt, my son went to the @rijksmuseum.bsky.social, and all I got was this lousy fridge magnet with a picture of a Doctor Who character(*). (*) Yes, I know.

Badly-taken shaky Phone Camera photo of a fridge magnet. Wood-effect frame, and the image is "Self-Portrait With Hat" by Vincent Van Gogh - the 1887 one with him looking rather gaunt and wearing a grey hat, brown coat with black trim, white shirt with blue background.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jun 5

A tale of two rehearsals. Tuesday night's view: RVW's English Folksong Suite, original concert band version. Thursday night's view: RVW's English Folksong Suite, arranged for symphony orchestra. Spot the difference(s), and the reason(s) for my confusion for the next few weeks.

Two views of the oboe part for the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams's English Folksong Suite. On the left, the original concert band version. On the right, the arrangement for full orchestra. There are...differences. Significant, confusing differences.

Two views of the oboe part for the second movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams's English Folksong Suite. On the left, the original concert band version. On the right, the arrangement for full orchestra. There are...differences. Significant, confusing differences.

Two views of the oboe part for the third movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams's English Folksong Suite. On the left, the original concert band version. On the right, the arrangement for full orchestra. There are...differences. Significant, confusing differences.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· May 25

A couple of views of yesterday's, erm, office? Recording studio? A church? Anyway. Yesterday was spent recording nine demo tracks for a newly-created orchestra - Enigma Orchestra. Today, I am very tired.

View of a conductor from the back desk of the small orchestra. There are bright lights - so bright - and an amount of haze in the air. Or, possibly, some air in the haze. Some microphones are also in evidence.

Inside view of a church (All Souls, Blackman Lane, Leeds) from about halfway down the nave looking towards the East end. There's some haze in the air allowing the rays of pinkish lighting to be visible.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· May 12

First rehearsal for the next #LeedsSymphonyOrchestra gig. This is going to be loud.

Sheet music laid out on a music stand. Double bass parts for Saint-Saens's third ("organ") symphony, Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphoses, and Copland's Billy the Kid ballet suite.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Apr 25

Next gig - Saturday May 10th, 7:30pm, St George's church, Leeds. Come up and say "hi" - I'll be one of the bassists... #LeedsSymphonyOrchestra #TheOriginalLSO #Mozart #Brahms #Tchaikovsky #ClassicalMusic #LiveMusic #Leeds #WestYorkshire

Poster advertising Leeds Symphony Orchestra's concert on 10th May 2025, 7:30pm, at St George's church, Leeds LS1 3BR.

Poster theme is a sea-green colour, with pink highlights. Images of Mozart, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky .

Programme details are on the poster - Mozart, "Magic Flute overture"; Brahms, "double concerto for violin and cello, with soloists Tom Greed and Dan Bull"; Tchaikovsky Symphony No 4.

Conductor - John Lyon
Leader - Alison Major

Tickets - Adults - £12, Students - £5, Children - free.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Apr 6

This might be of interest, if not much use. It's a bad photo of a fascinating piece of paper I saw in m'late uncle & aunt's house last year. No idea what happened to it...

Badly-lit photo of a sketch showing the bow grip for six famous cellists - Starker, du Pre, Piatigorsky, Fournier, Rostropovich, Tortelier.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Mar 23

Wise words from the past... From the striking / rioting / whatever Gods in LUU OperaSoc production of Orpheus in the Underworld far too many years ago... I had no idea they were doing that. And they displayed it on the day when my dad was in the audience...

Cardboard sign saying "RUSHTON MUST PLAY BASS", held by someone looking a bit grumpy.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Mar 23

Agreed. I had the penultimate piece of this one, and it was really rather good.

display of cakes - the half-time refreshments at West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra's concert at Yeadon Town Hall.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Feb 26

Part of this evening's rehearsal generating severe flashbacks... exacerbated by recent local musical losses. One of the happier memories is below. #NorthernWagnerOrchestra - not that that exists any more... :-/

front page of the double bass part for Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier".

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Feb 19

Some people, when they stay in far-flung places, share the views from their hotel windows - Fabulous beaches, wildebeest, Sydney Opera House. I therefore present you with the view from my hotel room window. Note that I have saved you from the view of the railway track - at eye level.

Looking down from a second storey window. There are big bins, small bins, and some really small binlets. Mostly black, some of the biggest have orange lids.

Behind the bins is a fence, and a scrubby scruffy embankment rising up. Not shown is the top of the embankment, and the railway track that's about at eye level.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Feb 18

Next concert with Leeds Symphony Orchestra Be there or be somewhere else.

Digital poster for Leeds Symphony Orchestra's next concert. Text reads:

Celebrating International Women's Day

Clara Schumann
Piano Concerto
Piano solist: Winnie Su

Emilie Mayer
Faust Overture

Amy Beach
Gaelic Symphony

7:30pm | 8th March 2025
St Margaret's Church | Horsforth
Conductor | John Lyon
Leader | Alison Major
Tickets £12 | £5 | Free

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Feb 17

Today's musical view. This was then followed by 4.5 hours driving. Ugh. I'm going to be no fun in the office in, erm, 10 hours or so. :-/

Sheet music set out almost for playing, more for display. Upright, we have the double bass part for Rheinberger's nonet, and Spohr's "Grand Nonetto". Lying down in front of the Rheinberger is the bass part for Martinu's nonet.

It's not just Spohr who wrote for the combination of one of each of violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon. There's a lot more out there, and some of it is really good.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Feb 16

Today's view was not quite what I was hoping for, given the recent coughs and wheezes... Hard work. Fun, but hard work. My face aches. I have another day of playing tomorrow - fortunately, on double bass - before schlepping down to the office for a few days.

Sheet music - first oboe part for Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, also known as "Eroica".

The bottom right is obscured by a few reeds, soaking in readiness. Not gin, unfortunately, although the copper-looking thing they're in ia s spirits measure which arrived attached to a bottle of Bloom's gin a few years ago. This is the problem wiht the rise of digital photography - a dearth of old 35mm film canisters to use for this sort of thing.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Feb 5

Introductory text from Asterix the Gaul, in a Latin translation.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jan 27

The Gary Carpenter / Pantomime tune is from the final movement, last page... ...and I really need to do some practice, as I'm performing it in June. There's only one recording online that I've been able to find - soundcloud.com/gary-carpent... - if you want/need to hear it.

Excerpt of sheet music from Gary Carpenter's "Pantomime" - musical theatre music for the same scoring as Mozart's "Gran Partita". The excerpt is from the final movement "Waltz - Depravity", and shows the double bass part does occasionally get an actual tune to play. This one is quite high.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jan 27

There's a nice bass tune in Gary Carpenter's "Pantomime" (same scoring as Mozart's "Gran Partita"). ...but that's always countered by this bass part from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Yeomen of the Guard". (There is another version, but - steady - it's just E flat, rather than D).

Double bass part from a song in Gilbert & Sullivan's "Yeomen of the Guard". The duet - Act 1, No.7 - is known as "I have a song to sing-oh". Unless you're a double-bassist, in which case it's "I have one note to play-oh", as it's one long sustained D (in this edition; there's another edition where it's an E flat) for two pages.

Thomas Rushton@thomasrushton· Jan 27

This evening's rehearsal involved too many semiquavers in a key with too many sharps in a church that was too bloody cold for that sort of thing. Double bass part, obviously, Emilie Mayer's "Faust - Ouverture" (yer actual French, y'know). Leeds Symphony Orchestra, gig in about six weeks...