York Early Music Festival 2012

[Guest]

I spent the wet weekend in York at the Early Music Festival. For me Sunday's concerts are the highlights of the festival to date.

1. The Early Music Show was there to record the performance of L'Avvnetura London 'Profane Deliriums: Eighteenth-century Portuguese and Brazilian modinhas for rebroadcast. This was a fantastic performance that is well worth hearing again.

2. The performance was directly followed by the presentation of the York Early Music Festival Lifetime Achievement Award to Jordi Savall. One of the true living greats of early music.

3. To cap the day Hesperion XXI performed at the University of York. The program FOLIAS: From the Old World to the New World was truly a highlight for the Festival. The audience was ecstatic after 3 encores the concert came to an end. A truly great night of music from one of the Premier Ensembles of Early Music.

John

[jean]

I'm off there tomorrow for the Striggio!

[Black Swan]

Jean,

I'm back on Thursday for the Striggio as well.

John

[doversoul1]

John and jean
You make me bright green with envy.

The Guardian has a good review.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jul/09/york-early-music-festival-review

…the most poignant moment was a sequence of solo viol meditations performed in memory of Savall's wife and musical soulmate, Montserrat Figueras. It culminated in a hushed, pizzicato rendition of a Bach bourrée that brimmed with sadness between every note.

To make others green too, here is the link to the programme (pdf link to the brochure at the bottom of the page).

http://www.ncem.co.uk/?idno=228

L'Avventura London on Sunday’s Early Music Show was most enjoyable.

I look forward to reading your report on the Striggio.

[jean]

I'm back on Thursday for the Striggio as well.

Early or late performance?

I've just come back from Gallicantus's Dialogues of Sorrow in Chester - they did it in York on Monday I think.

It's a marvellous compilation of music written for the death of Prince Arthur, eldest son of James I. Gabriel Crouch told us that the grief that event provoked was not equalled until the death of Princess Diana (but the music was far superior!)

[Miles Coverdale]

It's a marvellous compilation of music written for the death of Prince Arthur, eldest son of James I.

Far be it from me to be pedantic, but wasn't Prince Henry the eldest son of James I?

[Flosshilde]

Arthur was the eldest son of Henry VII. He died before his father, & his younger brother became, in due course, Henry VIII. No there's a 'what if' if you like

from Wikipedia -

Arthur's parents Elizabeth of York and Henry VII married on 18 January 1486. In order to strengthen his claim to the English throne, Henry set his personal genealogists to trace back his heritage to Cadwaladr and ancient British kings. The royal historians proclaimed that Henry was related to King Arthur, identifying Winchester in Hampshire as Camelot. Henry insisted that Elizabeth, now pregnant, would give birth to a son who would bring a golden age back into England, and Henry would name the boy Arthur in honour of his 'ancestor'. Henry moved the court to Winchester for the birth of his unborn child

(When I read Jean's post I thought 'That's odd, I'm sure James I's oldest son was also James.' Then I realised she meant James VI. )

[jean]

.

[jean]

Far be it from me to be pedantic, but wasn't Prince Henry the eldest son of James I?

Yes he was. I always mix the names up. It was late.

I'm not going to apologise for calling his father James I, though.

I had not realised until recently that Prince Henry's death was the occasion for all those settings of When David heard... but there is much more which we never hear now by composers we are aware of as madrigalists, like Ward and Vautor, and others mostly forgotten, like Ramsay. Richard Dering even contributed a marvellous Contristatus est David from his Catholic exile in the Low Countries (why?)

[Black Swan]

Jean,

I am going to the 20:30 performance.

John

[Peyton]

Hi friends this is very good and best environment show the sounds are great of this show actually i am a event planner and i am organised many events in my city and other cities i am also provides Show Hosts and DJ's for the any musical or non musical event anyways this show is very great which is going to held i like top go in this show and watch the organization and get the ideas for my show....

[jean]

I've been reminded by this, and tonight's late Prom, and of course this thread, that I'd promised to write my impressions of the York concert, and had forgotten - twice over.

I enjoyed it very much, but I realised rather late in the concert that the best place to be was absolutely in the centre with the performers all round. I heard the Gabrieli like that, and perhaps that's why it came over best to me.

I have always thought the Tallis more interesting than the Striggio (though I'd never heard the Mass until recently), partly because of the way the music moves through the choirs. I see that Robert Hollingworth said in the programme that there were four ten-part choirs, but that's not quite right, is it? Even though the same two choirs are always grouped together.

I'm interested that they're doing the London performance in St Augustine's, Kilburn, because I took part in a performance there many years ago, and the spacious galleries make it ideal to get the spread of sound you really need - and of course the audience is in the middle (though whether we gave them anything worth hearing is something I'm not sure about.)