Online activities

We may not be able to attend concerts, workshops and the like during the Covid 19 lockdown, but there are plenty of online activities that we can access.

Sunday evenings with Stile Antico is a series of four filmed lecture-recitals, exploring different aspects of Renaissance polyphony. Filmed in 4K in a beautiful Christopher Wren church in central London, the series delves deeper into the context behind some of the best-loved compositions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as some neglected masterpieces.
The series starts on Sunday 25th October at 7pm, and continues until 15th November with weekly 45 minute long episodes. All episodes are available to view 'on demand' behind a paywall at www.vimeo.com/ondemand/sundayswithstile. Individual episodes are priced at £10, with all four episodes available for just £30.
23-25 October: Brecon Baroque Festival. Included in the Festival is the eagerly-awaited première of Chad Kelly’s arrangement of the Goldberg Variations, created especially for violinist Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque. This ambitious reimagining was filmed in Brecon Cathedral over three days in August. It will be streamed on Saturday, 24 October at 7.00pm.
There is also a documentary about the project featuring all the musicians plus celebrated author, Horatio Clare (Sat 24 October at 4pm).
The Festival is bookended by Rachel and Chad with an introductory talk (23 October at 7pm) and an interactive Q&A Zoom (25 October at 7pm).
For tickets and details of how to view visit www.breconbaroquefestival.com
In response to the current curb on live performances to large audiences, Brighton Early Music has planned a digital festival for 2020. On the last two weekends in October there will be a series of 10 individually devised programmes, merging performance with film, images, animation and presentation. Click here for a flier.
Viewing is free, donations are encouraged to support the substantial artist and filming costs of making these broadcasts. All details can be found at bremf.org.uk
5-11 November: London International Festival of Early Music. All events will be streamed on the website https://lifem.org and their exhibitors’ hall will be available throughout the week, 24 hours a day. There will be a mixture of free and paid-for content, and an extensive array of instruments and accessories from leading makers around the world. 10 Concert performers include harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, winner of The Society of Recorder Players/Moeck International Solo Recorder Competition 2019, Tabea Debus, and viol consort Fretwork, who will be giving the world premiere of a new work by John Paul Jones, prolific performer, composer and founding bassist of Led Zeppelin. The three finalists of this year’s Early Music Young Ensemble Competition will have their recitals filmed live at the usual venue, St Michael and All Angels Church, Blackheath, and streamed on the website during the week.
Cambridge Woodwind Makers have started to organise live courses again. Click on the link for details. https://cambridgewoodwindmakers.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=72b43e630bdaf6de061432083&id=3e76444794&e=798a48c7ee
Patrick Craig is giving a series of online illustrated talks, arranged by some of our fellow-EMFs. See their websites (on the Links page) for details.
20 November - MEMF - Bach and Handel
20 December - MEMF - The Music of Epiphany
David Hatcher has been busy editing and recording his way through Odhecaton for the latest in his 'Consorts minus one' series. He has now completed the first three quarters of the collection. Please see his website dhatcher.co.uk/consort-music-minus-one, where you will find the catalogues to the first three volumes of Odhecaton, along with all the other collections.
SWEMF have arranged free access to a short online mediaeval cantiga workshop for singers and instrumentalists: click here.
David Hatcher has been exploring the deeply moving repertoire of pieces related to the Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola, who was rather grimly hanged and burnt in the main square of Florence on 23rd May 1498. His ashes were then cast into the river Po. Preaching vehemently for church reform and railing against the corruption of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) mitigated against a long life, but gained him considerable notoriety in the short period of his influence before his execution. During his last days of imprisonment he wrote a lengthy meditation on Psalm 50 (Misereremei, Deus) and began another on Psalm 30 (In te Domine speravi). Once his followers had smuggled these writings out of prison they became known throughout Europe and numerous composers with sympathetic leanings set them to some of the most profound music.
He has created another set of 'music minus one' tracks, which include Josquin’s monumental setting of Psalm 50, and four settings of Savonarola’s words - Infelix ego, omnium auxilio destitutus by Adrian Willaert, Cipriano de Rore, Orlando di Lasso and William Byrd. In addition to these, there will be Tribularer si nescirem, a liturgical text for Lent, so far those by Palestrina and Gesualdo plus other motets associated with the friar.
Samples of the opening pages of the scores and some sound samples can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j3qzp7n2cltta2m/AABIpb7ZUZRX2A9O4ccqeCuna?dl=0
Given the length and complexity of these six-part pieces, the cost is £12 each for them (The Gesualdo - shorter and in five parts, is the usual £6). For this, you will receive a score, parts and the usual selection of sound files.
An informal Online Early Music Forum has been created using Jamulus, open to all, to allow people to sing and play together online. For more information, click here.
David Hatcher has created another set of pieces for Music MInus One. These are Palestrina’s twenty-nine 5-part settings of Canticum Canticorum, the Song of Songs. He says: 'These astoundingly beautiful pieces were first published by Gardano in Rome in 1584 and reissued in Venice in 1587. It is this second print that I have used as the source for my edition." You can access the “catalogue” and some sound samples from the Consort-music-minus-one page on David's website, http://www.dhatcher.co.uk/consort-music-minus-one
Click here to listen to Sally Dunkley discussing the history of polyphonic music.
The Early Music Shop is providing videos on Monday to Friday at 1.00 pm. There is a complete index to them at https://earlymusicshop.com/blogs/early-music-1.
Alison Kinder gives an Angel Early Music Lecture-recital on the music of Tobias Hume. Click here.
David Hatcher has just finished his second collection of Consort-Music-Minus-One pieces. This collection is really singer-friendly: the beautiful settings of Petrarch’s Le Vergine by Cipriano de Rore, published in his Il terzo libro de madrigali a cinque voci, in 1548 by Gardano in Venice. These come with completely new editions of the eleven pieces prepared specifically for this project and presented as scores and parts. As they are in five voices, there are six sound files with each piece: a complete version, then five more with a different part missing in each. Each madrigal is £6 (score, parts and six sound files). Please contact David at djhatcher@icloud.com if you would like to make a purchase.
Cat on the Keys Music is producing a series of backing tracks for a variety of early music instrumental works. From baroque sonatas for recorder, violin and oboe by Bach, Handel and Albinoni, to Renaissance divisions and grounds, and Purcell songs. Each work comes in a variety of tempi and pitches to suit modern and Baroque instruments, learners and more experienced players. A few tracks are free to download, with a low price-tag for all other works. To find out more, go to https://www.catonthekeysmusic.co.uk/
The Sixteen (Musical Director Harry Christophers) are producing a range of online performances and talks: click here.
To learn more about Ex Cathedra's activities during the lockdown, and to see how you can get involved, click here.
Renaissance wind band The City Musick are offering downloads of 'music minus a part': for £5 per piece you get access to a score pdf [and parts where necessary], a high quality audio file of the full piece, and audio files of the piece minus the part you wish to play. See https://www.tcmusick.com/cck-music-store
Flute playing was a popular pastime in the eighteenth century and a number of pocket-sized collections of music were published for the instrument. Peter Harrison has made a video of excerpts from three of the collections and a version of the Hallelujah Chorus from 'Harrison's New German Flute Magazine' of 1787. https://youtu.be/vRSgyN-EFss . He would like to raise funds for the Railway Children Charity. The Charity supports street children in India, Africa and also has refuges in the UK. Recently h spent some days working with the organisation in Delhi and I now know from personal experience what excellent, committed and caring work is done. Please make a donation if you can: www.railwaychildren.org.uk
Knowing that many of us are missing playing consorts with each other, David Hatcher has made it possible for us to play with him! See here for more about the project and/or email him to place your order.
Allt these pieces have a mere (?) four parts, so to celebrate completing the 39th and final piece, David has produced Wylkynson’s 13-voice canon Jesus autem transiens/Credo from the Eton Choirbook, on 13 bass viols! Here’s the link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4f3rjd8d4ddadqc/AADOVaFwwrymKjI6TwSZKmNsa?dl=0.
Julia Bishop is offering one-to-one Baroque violin lessons on Zoom. Baroque repertoire of your choice and guidance on technical issues, Baroque performance practice etc. Fee £30.00 per hour.To find out more, email her on julia@redpriest.com
Viol players may be particularly interested in this link.
I Fagiolini have sent us links to sites where you can enjoy their work. Firstly, a new series of videos coming out once a week (two already up) where a Fagiolini track is played with the score appearing simultaneously. If you like it, they ask that you subscribe to the series - it's free of charge. Click here to visit it. They also have a site where they have uploaded a number of performances, interviews etc: click here to visit.