Today is the 211th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, where Lord Nelson unfortunately lost his life but won one of the greatest naval battles of all time to secure the supremacy of the British Navy for the next 100 years or so. Last night the string quartet was invited to play for the annual Royal Navy Trafalgar Night commemorative dinner which was held in the Princess Royal Gallery at the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth Dockyard.
The dinner was attended by 102 high ranking Royal Navy and Royal Marine Officers and their guests. The evening started in the traditional way with the string quartet playing 'Roast Beef of Old England' by Henry Fielding as the guests took their seats for dinner. Later in the evening, between the starter and the main course and in accordance with naval tradition, a 'Baron of Beef' was paraded around the dining room escorted by the Trafalgar Drummers and was presented to the guest of honour Admiral Sir Jonathan Band.
Throughout the evening the string quartet played a mainly classical repertoire with some film music. After the Loyal Toast proposed by Admiral Sir Jonathan Band we played the National Anthem and then left the dinner before the speeches started.
It was a fantastic evening and we were delighted to be invited to play for the event.
