Recorder Workshop
“Renaissance Splendour”
This workshop, held at Hodson Manor on May 29, was attended by a fine turnout of 28 people, most (but not all) of whom were BCRS members. The instructors were Liz Hamel and Karen Epp.
The goal was to experience some of the multi-choir pieces of renaissance instrumental music. These pieces were originally designed to reap the benefits of the lively acoustics of big European cathedrals, such as Saint Mark’s in Venice, with the various “choirs” (actually instrumental groups) situated in different parts of the cathedral. The music is a dialogue between the choirs, sometimes alternating different themes, sometimes echoing the same theme, and usually with a grandiose tutti finale.
The group was divided into two experience levels for most of the day, the two groups uniting in the late afternoon for a combined effort. The instructors took turns with each group. This procedure seemed to be successful and both the groups had challenging workouts.
Two fantasias of Gabrielli (for two and three choirs) formed the basis for much of the day, and they both ended up sounding superb in both rooms. Another multi-choir piece was by Grillo, which also sounded good, even thought the musical composition did not seem equal to that of the great master Gabrielli. This truly is a type of music that can be only rarely experienced in amateur performance, and was greatly appreciated.
We also tried doubling some four-part pieces on instruments that played an octave lower on each line. Hence in the four-part Magnum Mysterium by Willaert, nominally SATB, we added T, B, Great bass in C and Contrabass in F to the same lines. The overall result is very interesting; apart from bulking up the volume impressively, it has a strange qualitative effect and almost sounds like a different composition.
The two instructors did a fine job of music selection, and skillfully coached us in a most positive manner. Overall, the workshop was a great success and left one with a taste for doing more of these “BIG” works. Perhaps next year.
©2010 Tony Griffiths
The goal was to experience some of the multi-choir pieces of renaissance instrumental music. These pieces were originally designed to reap the benefits of the lively acoustics of big European cathedrals, such as Saint Mark’s in Venice, with the various “choirs” (actually instrumental groups) situated in different parts of the cathedral. The music is a dialogue between the choirs, sometimes alternating different themes, sometimes echoing the same theme, and usually with a grandiose tutti finale.
The group was divided into two experience levels for most of the day, the two groups uniting in the late afternoon for a combined effort. The instructors took turns with each group. This procedure seemed to be successful and both the groups had challenging workouts.
Two fantasias of Gabrielli (for two and three choirs) formed the basis for much of the day, and they both ended up sounding superb in both rooms. Another multi-choir piece was by Grillo, which also sounded good, even thought the musical composition did not seem equal to that of the great master Gabrielli. This truly is a type of music that can be only rarely experienced in amateur performance, and was greatly appreciated.
We also tried doubling some four-part pieces on instruments that played an octave lower on each line. Hence in the four-part Magnum Mysterium by Willaert, nominally SATB, we added T, B, Great bass in C and Contrabass in F to the same lines. The overall result is very interesting; apart from bulking up the volume impressively, it has a strange qualitative effect and almost sounds like a different composition.
The two instructors did a fine job of music selection, and skillfully coached us in a most positive manner. Overall, the workshop was a great success and left one with a taste for doing more of these “BIG” works. Perhaps next year.
©2010 Tony Griffiths
