Members of SWEMF, some local and some from further afield, could hardly believe their eyes when Saturday 13th September – their “date” with Ann Lyall at St. John’s church, West Bay – dawned fair and warm ;no rain, howling gales or unseasonable temperatures! Ann, for her part, had prepared a programme consisting entirely of English works, Byrd, Tallis and Purcell all featured, alongside pieces by Sheppard, and an interesting glimpse of a composer far less well-known to us all, Peter Philips.In her usual generous way, Ann led off with Tallis’s “O Lord, give Thy Holy Spirit”, a beautiful, simple piece which gave us all confidence for what lay ahead. This music, with its gentle, positive tone and peaceful ending was the first of several pieces set for Compline. The next, “Te Lucis ante terminum” involved a plainsong introduction and conclusion sung by the sopranos, who produced an ethereal ending to the piece, emphasising perfectly the words of the text.

More plainsong was to follow. We were introduced to Sheppard’s ”In pace in idipsum dominum”. This music gave the plainsong entry to the bass singers and instruments, and gave them the last word too in a perfectly judged reprise.

Coffee next - then we moved on to William Byrd. “Haec dixit Dominus”, with its bold opening declaration and beautiful final chord, portrayed the great hope and faith of the text in a wonderfully direct way.

Ann had so far taken us through some simpler examples of this great repertoire, as she talked about the differences between European early music compositions and English. We suddenly began to understand more of what she meant by the “rhythmic complexities” of English music of this period in our next piece, “Ne irascaris Domine”, again by Byrd. This involved some wonderful word-painting; the cross-rhythms of the penitential cries of the wicked and the interweaving, drawn-out cries of the male singers in part one was followed by the womens’ sorrowing response in part two. The music ended with a final desolate diminuendo.

The real challenge of the day was our final piece, “Ecce vicit Leo” by Peter Philips. An English composer, he fled to the Continent in 1582, fearing persecution as a Catholic, and spent time in France, Italy and Belgium. A contemporary of William Byrd, he was imprisoned for treason, released and returned to England where he became the second most purchased composer of the period. Ann explained that his music bore the marks of his “European” experience in that it appeared more harmonic, less contrapuntal than his English contemporaries, with simpler rhythmic structures.

We were hooked! Although the work appeared much longer than others we had tackled during the day, and involved singers and hard-worked instrumentalists forming two choirs, we set out with enthusiasm! Several pages, and a few false-starts later, some of us began to realise that this might not, in fact, be an easy option. Reading notes and watching the conductor became a bit of a challenge, which Ann managed with an occasional gentle chiding and her well-known sense of humour.

We succeeded! Not all of us in the same places, at the same time, but sufficiently well to fall in love with the music’s rich harmonies and wonderful final “Allelulia.”

In addition to all the music, players and singers had opportunities to chat and get to know one another, as well as to eat West Bay fish and chips and sandwiches, walk dogs and take in the sun and sea air – all of which made the day a huge success.

Many thanks to Ann for an inspirational day, and to the organisers, whose hard work made everything appear so spontaneous and totally delightful.

Jenny Ellis

The Cotswold Hyperguide says that Wotton has contours like Venice has canals. So you don't get there except by going up and down more than somewhat. Nevertheless, St Mary's Parish Church proved an excellent location for early music, a wide uncluttered space with superb acoustics.

Our chairman, Peter Leech is well-known for his research on 17th Century Church composers, and he provided a fine collection of works related in interesting ways. A particular feature of the day was the use of an instrumental group of Cornetts, Sackbuts and Curtals to support the vocal lines. Peter pointed out that while these instruments are more often associated with music of the earlier 1600s , they could perfectly well have been used in our set works. And the combination of voices and instruments was spectacular.

John Blow (1649-1708) provided the major focus for our efforts. Blow would be much more familiar to us if the great Henry Purcell had not coincided in time and place. We worked on his challenging large scale motet Gloria patri qui creavit nos, and also four of his anthems, all with instrumental support, finely crafted and with ground-breaking harmonic developments which caused problems for contemporary analysts. Several of the items we studied were copied by Blow himself into one of the volumes at present in Christ Church library in Oxford.

We then moved on to consider Matthew Locke (1622-77). In 1673 he was described as 'organist of her Majesty's chapel', a Roman Catholic establishment. Locke had probably converted earlier, and the chapel provided a quiet sanctuary for the development of Catholic music, which would not have been tolerated elsewhere. But he was also composer to the King Charles II at the Chapel Royal, and possibly a mentor of John Blow. A copy of the anthem which we studied, How doth the city sit solitary was added by Blow to his collection in the Christ Church Library.

Another change of composer, to Henry Aldrich (1648-1710). The connection? Most of his career was bound up with Christ Church, Oxford, and he was vice-chancellor of Oxford University, 1692-5. His collection of music was the basis of the library there, and he probably originally owned the volume which John Blow created, which Aldridge presented to the library. We studied two pieces, O praise the Lord with instruments and O Lord I will praise thee, which appears to be recomposed from a Carissimi original. Another connection? John Blow copied two, possibly three Carissimi motets into the same Christ Church collection. King Charles II was apparently keen on Carissimi look-alikes.

All our works up to this point had been given the windy accompaniment, but the final piece was in eight vocal lines with organ and instrumental Bass continuo. This was by the Italian composer Innocentio Fede (born 1661). Fede was maestro di cappella at the Catholic Chapel of King James II in Whitehall, opened in 1686 and one of the most lavish ecclesiastical buildings in England. James' short reign provided in the Chapel a later centre than that of Matthew Locke's at Catherine's chapel for those involved in non-Reformed music.

So we were provided with a feast of little-known and only recently discovered music of the highest quality. Many thanks must go to our Director for providing so much great music new to us, and to Simon Pickard and his able helpers for a comfortable and inspiring day.

Edward James

November is not the best of months for travelling, but 22 enthusiasts were drawn from as far afield as Launceston and Gloucester to this day at Backwell WI Hall. The comfortable, well organized venue was recalled by one of us as the baby clinic to which she had brought her youngest 32 years ago; and, somehow, a sense of “old friends reunited” combined with excellent refreshments (only the very best biscuits!) soon drew us together as a group of serious prospective music makers.

We were six basses and tenors (including one lady), ten altos and sopranos and four viol and 2 violin players. Clare’s animation, evident from the outset in her well targeted warm up exercises, was skillfully communicated throughout the day enabling us to explore the intriguing possibilities of this ensemble. We were supplied with a clear programme to guide us through the shape of the day with a section for each of the composers, John Ward, Richard Nicholson, Thomas Tomkins and Orlando Gibbons, whose works we were to tackle.

Clare’s hallmark is her subtle blend of gentle encouragement and solid scholarship delivered with a pleasing wit which relaxes, informs & keeps the group moving along all at the same time. Beginning with John Ward, we discovered how independent viol parts and voices work alongside each other which reflects, evidently, the way in which boys were trained in both disciplines at that time. With Nicholson, we sampled two contrasting styles. Firstly, a sprightly nonsense song, “Joan, quoth John”, (“part of the long literature of hen pecked husbands”) and then the complex texture of interwoven voices and instruments in the 5 part “When Jesus sat at meat”. The twin Tomkins pieces “Oh let me live/Oh let me die for true love” were more familiar, but those of us who thought of them as madrigals learned that they are correctly designated “ballets” on account of the presence of the “fa la las”.

Perhaps our music making on this occasion was inspired by the spirit of St. Cecilia – November 22 is, after all, her day. In summarizing the day, it is certainly tempting to quote the closing lines of John Ward’s “Down caitiff wretch”…

“With such consenting harmony as this

The soul is brought to everlasting bliss”

but maybe such Cecilian hyperbole is going a little too far! Certainly, we owe grateful thanks to Heather for arranging and to Clare for leading a most enjoyable and rewarding day. Could we ask them to offer us more next year?

Barbara Cottman

IN NOMINE

The application form for this workshop gave some interesting background information as follows:-

‘This is one of three masses for six voices which Taverner wrote during the first two decades of Henry VIII’s reign. From 1525 he was master of the children at Cardinal College (now Christ Church) Oxford, but given the archaic treatment of cantus firmus in this mass it could well date from his earlier days as choirmaster at Tattershall Priory in Lincolnshire.’

We began the workshop by chanting the Gregorian antiphon ‘Gloria tibi Trinitas aequalis, una Deitas, et ante omnia saecula, et nunc, et in perpetuum.’. ‘Glory to you, O equal Trinity, single Godhead, and before all ages, and now, and for ever’. This antiphon was sung at the service of Lauds on Trinity Sunday. Anthony informed us that this plainsong lay in the Dorian mode, a tantalising glimpse of arcane music matters.

This set the scene for our attempt at the mass based on this antiphon, the altos having the task of singing the chant while the other parts sang their more complex lines in counterpoint. As was customary in English pre-Reformation mass settings the Kyrie is omitted. In spite of a shorter mass than normal, Anthony did not expect that we would manage to tackle the whole work and this turned out to be the case since we had to leave out most of the Credo. However we had a good attempt at the rest of the work, the tenors and basses having to work especially hard since they had to cover four parts. The altos had a comparatively easy ride; one alto confessed that she sang the other parts where possible to make it more interesting. The sopranos were a ‘cast of thousands’ as is often the case but it did not mean that there was safety in numbers and most people found the music a challenge, especially the syncopation. Anthony did his best to help any part which got into difficulties but, as he pointed out, even though he operated a breakdown service, he was only able to service one car at a time.

It is the Benedictus in this Mass which holds the key to the development of the ‘In Nomine’ as an instrumental piece based on the plainsong. The words ‘in nomine Domini’ from ‘Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini – Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ are set to the antiphon and subsequently Taverner made an arrangement for organ which appeared in the Mulliner Book. This book was compiled, probably in the late 1560s, by Thomas Mulliner (c.1545-c.1570) who figures in 1563 as modulator organorum (organist) of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Other composers then used this theme to compose works which were each called In Nomine. These works were usually for viols and less frequently for keyboard. We do not know why this plainchant melody was so attractive to Taverner and later to other composers but it has led to a wealth of compositions.

At the end we all agreed with Anthony when he said that, after our attempt at this mass, any 18thC oratorio would be a doddle. As usual the afternoon was enjoyable and stimulating and we were left wanting more. Our thanks go to the organisers and helpers of this workshop; tea and biscuits fortified us for the final performance.

Madeline Hayward

“In no other oratorio is such intensity of expression wedded to such a commanding formal organisation. With Saul Handel raised Old Testament oratorio to its highest point, and produced one of the supreme masterpieces of dramatic art”. Winton Dean.

75 singers and instrumentalists (4 from the South West region) eagerly met at Nottingham University, over the Easter holiday break, for the chance to work with the talented harpsichordist and conductor Laurence Cummings. We were not disappointed as his insights into Handel's oratorio Saul (1738), were both valuable and entertaining. Laurence's fast pace delivery meant that no time was wasted in rehearsals. Furthermore, the dramatic intensity of the work was allowed to develop from movement to movement, which led to an exciting interpretation of this work.

Laurence's versatility shone through, sometimes directing from the harpsichord, sometimes conducting and even at one point singing one of the arias himself. All with apparent ease. He also has a knack of getting the best out of people. He gave genuine praise and encouragement to everyone's contributions. Singers were asked to "act out" their performances which led to entertaining, emotional and musical responses.

Instrumentalists were by no means left out, with valuable tips given by Lynn Selwood (cellist) in a tutorial given on the Saturday morning. Collective breathing helped sort out messy entries and she expertly demonstrated phrasing, which helped with the further understanding and interpretation of the text. Her refreshing approach to string bowing was summarised by the phrase “try it out and see what works”. In essence we did not get bogged down with which way round our bows were to go, we were allowed to just get on with the music and make discoveries as we went along.

The weekend was finished off by a Sunday afternoon performance of the whole work with 2 intervals. It was only marred by the wasted opportunity to have an audience present to enjoy this rarely performed work.

Helen Large

It was a typical blustery April day for Margaret Westlake's "Lassus " workshop in Thorverton. A good turnout of forty-one participants assembled in the lovely and warm Parish Church.

We started the day with our tutor "setting the sound scene" by adjusting the tuning and balancing the instrumental colour before our introduction to the eight part "Missa super Bella Amfitrit altera" with its dance like Hosanna in the Benedictus.

We were fortunate to have a lute with us, a fine consort of recorders and singers with good sight reading skills.

Lassus wrote more Magnificats (100) than any other sacred work form, so we had to include one in four parts alternating the chant between men's and women's voices.

The final item of the day was the Easter hymn "Aurora lucis rutilat", a descriptive poem, ascribed to St. Ambrose, and set in ten parts for Lauds, which are the prayers immediately following Matins in the Roman Catholic Church. This was a splendid piece to complete a very enjoyable day.

Our thanks go to our tutor and Mary Thomas for all her hard work setting it up and providing an endless supply of hot drinks.

Stella Worrall

On Saturday July 4th thirty six of us gathered in the W.I. Hall in Backwell for an excellent day of music studying works by J.D.Heinichen and J.D.Zelenka.

The orchestra comprised 3 violins, viola, cello, theorbo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes and a chamber organ. The choir of 25 provided some good soloists when these were needed. The hall was an excellent venue. Under Ralph?s direction we worked hard and his sense of humour and general encouragement helped us to end the day with a lively performance of three of the pieces. He had brought a bag of sweets and threatened to throw one at anyone who went wrong, but after the first piece seemed surprised not to have thrown any! He was a very good conductor who created a relaxed atmosphere.

Ralph is in demand nationally as a conductor and tutor and is the musical director at Norvis. The Heinichen pieces were retrieved from manuscripts held in Dresden as part of the Ph.D studies of Margaret Williams at Bristol University. Margaret very kindly gave a short talk on the composers, the background to the pieces and the difficulties of working with old manuscripts. Ralph had already conducted some of Margaret?s Heinichen pieces at Norvis.

During the first half of the 18th century the court of Dresden was one of the richest and most powerful in Europe. The musical establishments of the court were very important. Heinichen (1683-1729), the son of a Lutheran pastor, was Kapellmeister there from 1717-1729 and wrote works in the Catholic tradition as a result of a politically motivated change of religious allegiance by the Dresden court.

Not a great deal is known about Zelenka (1679-1745) who studied in Prague, was a gifted composer and often acted as Heinichen?s deputy at court. Our thanks go to Sylvia Davies for organising the day, to Margaret Williams for providing all the music and to Ralph Woodward for his patient encouragement.

Sue Young