"Early Music"

[Lat-Literal]

Your recollection is correct - so 'ancien régime' means the one earlier than 'this one' (tbd) even if it was still flourishing five years ago
Are we still in the post-modern age, or is that passé?

I agree with Vinteuil. If a new group is formed, say the Early Music Ensemble, they may wish to define for themselves where they want to focus and what they won't play eg no Baroque. I remember Andrew Manze presenting an Early Music Show which included Mozart - but there's nothing to say Mozart can't also be a Classical composer.

Well, on that basis "ancienne" when being applied in the 1920s to music could have theoretically applied to music produced in the late 1800s. It didn't and if there is to be a direct correlation between that term and the term "Early Music" then the question that needs to be asked is "former to what?", ie what did they mean by "former"? I think when it was applied it meant "former to the music of which most of us are aware". That would not have included Beethoven or even JS Bach but it would have meant genuinely early music!!

[BBMmk2]

Well, on that basis "ancienne" when being applied in the 1920s to music could have theoretically applied to music produced in the late 1800s. It didn't and if there is to be a direct correlation between that term and the term "Early Music" then the question that needs to be asked is "former to what?", ie what did they mean by "former"? I think when it was applied it meant "former to the music of which most of us are aware". That would not have included Beethoven or even JS Bach but it would have meant genuinely early music!!

So rather Pre-Renaissance?

[Roehre]

So rather Pre-Renaissance?

Middle Ages?

[BBMmk2]

Middle Ages?

I would think so. I would like to know more of this period, the music of The Middle Ages.

[Lat-Literal]

I would think so. I would like to know more of this period, the music of The Middle Ages.

Yes - I think that is how I see it but people have different views and I'm not too worried about the timing.

I would also like to know more about the music from the Middle Ages.

[doversoul1]

Just a thought. If anyone is thinking about trying some Monteverdi’s madrigals over the holiday, I think this is an excellent concert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQOKDmgob7Q

Monteverdi: II sesto libro de Madrigali Les arts florissants

.. you could compare and contrast;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvEVCbubLZs

Concerto Italiano,. Rinaldo Alessandrini (1992)

And here is the text and an English translation.

http://www.naxos.com/sungtext/PDF/8.555312-13_Monteverdi_lyrics.pdf

[Roehre]

Just a thought. If anyone is thinking about trying some Monteverdi’s madrigals over the holiday, I think this is an excellent concert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQOKDmgob7Q

Monteverdi: II sesto libro de Madrigali Les arts florissants

.. you could compare and contrast;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvEVCbubLZs

Concerto Italiano,. Rinaldo Alessandrini (1992)

And here is the text and an English translation.
http://www.naxos.com/sungtext/PDF/8....rdi_lyrics.pdf

[MickyD]

I've long been tempted to invest in La Venexiana's complete set of the madrigals on Glossa. Does anyone have them and how do they rate with you?

[Roehre]

I've long been tempted to invest in La Venexiana's complete set of the madrigals on Glossa. Does anyone have them and how do they rate with you?

I like them, especially the way the accentuate the development of style between say the first two books (high renaissance, p.1587 and 1590) and the last one (Book VIII, p.1638: proto- and early baroque)

[BBMmk2]

At the moment, I just seem to be too busy, one way or another, with my life! I would love to catch up on those concerts, DS has thumbed up!

[Richard Tarleton]

Biography of Diana Poulton, The Lady with the Lute

A book for early music buffs - this excellent biography of Diana Poulton, Dowland scholar and pivotal figure in the revival of the lute in the 20th century, by Thea Abbott.

Born Diana Kibblewhite in 1903, she knew the Dolmetsches from childhood. She was a pupil of Arnold Dolmetsch in the early 1920s, but stopped going to him for lessons after a while because he was so horrible to his pupils. Rather, under the influence of his most gifted son Rudolph, she went back to the primary sources on lute-playing such as Thomas Mace, Adrien Le Roy, Thomas Robinson etc., and was soon playing with Rudolph and his wife in provincial concerts, before being invited back into the fold by Arnold to play at the Haslemere concerts. Julian Herbage invited her to play on the BBC, where she made 400 broadcasts as "The Lady with the Lute" - for a long time she was the only professional lutenist in the country. She played to Peter Warlock in 1927 (the first time he'd heard a lute played) and he played Dowland's Lachrimae to her on the piano, the first time she'd heard that. The rest is history. Her book on John Dowland is still the standard work.

Diana's surprising personal story apart, the book is a fascinating insight into the early music movement in the 20th century. Later chapters cover her teaching (many of today's finest lutenists have been taught by her and acknowledge their debt to her), her Dowland scholarship, and the development of the Lute Society (and its uneasy relationship in the early days with Julian Bream, who was nevertheless a good friend of Diana's).

On the personal front - Diana was a member of the Communist party until the scales fell from her eyes after Hungary in 1956, and was almost refused entry to the USA in 1974 as a result. After her short marriage to Tom Poulton, an artist and illustrator, she had a long-term relationship with a refugee from the Spanish Civil War and looked after an ageing and difficult actor.

An absorbing tale, excellently written. The book reprints a tribute by the great lutenist Jakob Lindberg who succeeded her as professor at the RCM, having been her student.

[BBMmk2]

RT, The River People?

[Richard Tarleton]

RT, The River People?

BBM, if you click on the link and scroll down you'll see you can get it from the publishers (Smokehouse Press) for £15 + £4.50p&p.

I see there is one copy on Amazon, for £16 (plus, presumably, p&p) so you're as well getting it straight from the publishers, I'd say.

[BBMmk2]

BBM, if you click on the link and scroll down you'll see you can get it from the publishers (Smokehouse Press) for £15 + £4.50p&p.

I see there is one copy on Amazon, for £16 (plus, presumably, p&p) so you're as well getting it straight from the publishers, I'd say.

Thanks! My friends who are The York Waits, have a new and different cd out! They were interviewed on Songs of Praise by none other by Noddy Holder!

[jean]

And my friend who sings with them was interviewed too! But where did they get that awful dress...?