Diary

An online workshop for the Border Marches Early Music Forum.

Psalm 42, with its poetic evocation of longing, has drawn soulful settings from the pen of many composers down the centuries, including Howells, Mendelssohn and Palestrina.

In this workshop we get to know two glorious polyphonic masterpieces, written about a century apart on the fringes of Western Europe, which set words from that psalm.

John Taverner (c.1490-1545) was one of the greatest early Tudor musicians.  His sinuously woven Quemadmodum survives only as an untexted instrumental piece, but the words of psalm 42 fit so perfectly that we should be in little doubt that the piece was originally conceived for voices.

Our second work comes from Portugal during the period of Spanish rule. Sitivit anima mea by Manuel Cardoso (1566-1650) was published in 1625 and is perhaps the greatest single utterance by this wonderful composer.  Drawing its text from psalms 42 and 55, the counterpoint is noble, abstract yet highly emotive, with its portrayal of the soul rising like a dove on the wing to find its rest.

Both pieces are a joy to sing: characterful, highly expressive melodic lines, with delicious suspensions, especially in the Cardoso. David will briefly draw out points of technical interest, moments of special beauty and vocal challenge, but the bulk of the session will be spent singing (muted) together. It should make for a lovely evening as we look towards spring.

Advance booking is essential, via www.bmemf.org.uk.

Attendence is free, but partcipants are invited to make donations to cover BMEMF's costs.

Booking and queries: via this link.

A series of five illustrated online lectures celebrating the music and legacy of the musicians of Ávila – focusing particularly on the music of Victoria and his contemporaries – Morales, Vivanco and Ribera.

At the core of every talk is Victoria: tracing his career and influences across the episodes, David selects representative works and asks questions about structure, style and the ways in which we perform and hear this music. From the juvenile brilliance of Super flumina Babylonis to the final, searing music of the 1603 Requiem, David urges you to listen afresh to Victoria, while championing the music of unjustly eclipsed contemporaries. All with his customary mixture of expertise, passion and humour.

These talks will be ‘illuminated’ with images of Ávila, music, virtual walks through the city and recipes to recreate the gastronomic taste of Ávila for those of us who have been lucky enough to visit – and those who have that pleasure yet to come. There will also be opportunities to sing some of the glorious music we are exploring together.

A Taste of Ávila will begin and end with live interactive chat opportunities where you can ask David questions in real time. All lectures will be broadcast on the Runbysingers YouTube Channel so you can catch up on any missed episodes if the live times don’t suit your schedule – or time zone.

*A live talk for the Thames Valley Early Music Forum*

This year, as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of Josquin’s death, the contradictions bound up in this figure become ever more glaring. He is the most famous composer of the early Renaissance, yet major parts of Josquin's biography are shrouded in mystery and his work-list is hotly contested.

Yet for contemporaries and followers, as for us, his name was a guarantee of quality and his music utterly distinctive, fusing the medieval inheritance of gothic abstraction with the new emotional directness of humanism. His works were transmitted across Europe, setting the bar in every major genre: Mass, motet and chanson.

In this talk, David Allinson will focus on the ways in which contemporaries and successors used pieces by Josquin as the basis of beautiful Mass settings. He will look at the ways in which composers took Josquin’s material and reworked it into lovely, rhapsodic Masses.

He will feature, in particular, Févin’s Missa Ave Maria, Morales's Missa Mille Regretz and Rore's Missa Præter rerum seriem - all exceptionally beautiful responses to Josquin’s material, which we will also spend time enjoying.
David will try to explain why Josquin was such a dominating presence among C16th century musicians, and what it is about his music that is so exceptional. Links to the scores will be on your booking receipt and the Zoom link will be sent by email the day before the event.

Attendance is £5 (plus voluntary donation) and advance booking is essential, via https://www.tvemf.org/forthcoming-events