History of the Chapel Royal: EMS 1st September

[doversoul1]

Recorded at the Palace of St James's in London. Lucie Skeaping examines music written for the Chapel Royal with its director Joseph McHardy, with the backdrop of more than 300 years of turbulent history of Britain from the 15th to the 17th centuries and the different monarchs that were in power at the time – and the composers who served them. Familiar names like Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and Henry Purcell feature, but also those of lesser-known composers like John Pyamour, Robert Faryfax, Thomas Tomkin, Pelham Humfrey, among others.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00083c0

[LeMartinPecheur]

Recorded at the Palace of St James's in London. Lucie Skeaping examines music written for the Chapel Royal with its director Joseph McHardy, with the backdrop of more than 300 years of turbulent history of Britain from the 15th to the 17th centuries and the different monarchs that were in power at the time – and the composers who served them. Familiar names like Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and Henry Purcell feature, but also those of lesser-known composers like John Pyamour, Robert Faryfax, Thomas Tomkin, Pelham Humfrey, among others.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00083c0

Shouldn't the highlighted gentleman be in the plural?

[oddoneout]

Shouldn't the highlighted gentleman be in the plural?

And what about poor Robert Faryfax[sic] - away with the fairies?
I'm surprised that John Pyamour escaped unscathed considering that Google told me I was looking for John Pyarmor...

[LeMartinPecheur]

And what about poor Robert Faryfax[sic] - away with the fairies?
I'm surprised that John Pyamour escaped unscathed considering that Google told me I was looking for John Pyarmor...

On the latter, it's from before proper spelling was invented (by Dr Johnson)

Big DOH! for me for not spotting Faryfax though

[oddoneout]

On the latter, it's from before proper spelling was invented (by Dr Johnson)

Big DOH! for me for not spotting Faryfax though

In Google's case it was because it thought I should be more interested in wanting to

obfuscate python scripts

, than finding out about some long dead 'classical music' person.

[doversoul1]

We had BGM throughout the programme. Whose idea was this? Neither the music nor the talk deserved this.

[vinteuil]

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... who is BGM?


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[doversoul1]

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... who is BGM?


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backgroundmusic

[oddoneout]

backgroundmusic

Felt like a longer programme had been squashed into the hour slot. The musical 'noises off' irritation was exacerbated for me by some unpleasant interference of the loud hiss variety which appeared part way through.

[pilamenon]

I still found it an enjoyable listen. Very clear interviewee on both the music and the history.

[DracoM]

We had BGM throughout the programme. Whose idea was this? Neither the music nor the talk deserved this.

Absolutely.
It thought it was a TV documentary.
If the central topic was the MUSIC - which it manifestly was supposed to be - then why on earth did we not get far more and far more continuously music solo to listen to?
And....ahem......was not the Chapel Royal choir topped by boys singing? Stephen Darlington's CCCOx team has a whole series of Eton Choirbook pieces by many of the mentioned composers. So why did we not hear more from boy-topped ensembles to establish a sound closer to that which the composers would have heard and perforce have regularly written for? KCC, yes. well...........maybe, but...

Yes, I am delighted we had the programme at all, but...but...but...!

[AuntDaisy]

The apt "A sad pavan for these distracted times" made me smile.

I enjoyed the programme, but also found the background music distracting.

[ardcarp]

I suppose the programme fell between two stools. The long history of the Chapel (or should one say Chapels) Royal has always been of great interest to me. (It all began with a postgrad thesis many moons ago.) However, the premise of the EMS is to play quite a bit of music. It's quite impossible therefore, in a 1-hour programme, to do justice to the words and music of a huge subject. Not sure they got the format right, even within theoe limitations.

[oddoneout]

Towards the end Lucie Skeaping did make a comment to the effect that there was a lot to find out about the subject. Perhaps there could be a revised and extended repeat, or alternatively revisit the topic at a future date to retrieve the bits that were left out and omit the BGM.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

R3 used to do series of programmes devoted to a single historic topic (I keep coming across "Third of Six Programmes" when compiling the Today's the Day posts): there's a whole six- (or eight-) part weekly series Music at the Chapel Royal that could be made by a truly "distinctive cultural Music radio station".