Saturday 31 August 2013

Grand Baroque update, Day Two: 30 August 2013 The second rehearsal (and a glimpse of the concert) More snapshots and details of the amazing musicians

Emily White
Sackbut

(see: Margaret Faultless at Dartington March 2012)
playing beautifully with
The English Cornet & Sackbut Ensemble
Adrian France: Bass Sackbut
Phil Dale & Emily White: Sackbuts
Sam Goble & Gawain Glenton: Cornetti
. . . and sitting directly behind Gawain . . .
Soprano: Zoë Fitzsimmons
and Tenor: Keith Wainwright
waiting for their cue from
JanJoost van Elburg
to sing with the international choir of
Blackdowns Early Music Projects
and founders Geoffrey & Catherine Bass
with Bass Soloist: Jonathan Arnold
and Soprano: Amy Haworth
followed by -
350 bars rest!
while the Montiverdi String Band
rehearse Heinrich Biber's
"Sonata No 11"
Bass Violin: Mark Caudle
Chamber Organ: Steven Devine
Cathedral stewards point out
a historic memorial to
chamber organ, lutes, sackbut & cornet
as part of the life of the Cath
edral
Looking up to the minstrel's gallery
angels play
cornet and baroque trumpet
Back on stage
the return of the baroque trumpet!
Jean-François Madeuf (playing 'Clarion')
leads the Altenburg Ensemble
in Johann Christoph Pezel's
"Intraden 73 & 74"
(Second Clarion: Katie Hodges)
Muted Tromba:
Richard Thomas
Stephen GilbeyTom Lees
Georg Muffat's "Missa in Labore Requies"

(Baroque Tympani: Stephen Burke)
Jean-François Madeuf
analyses the sound from the nave.
Cornettist Sam Goble takes an active interest
Jean-François returns for the full fanfare
with sackbuts and cornetti!
After the rehearsal
Steward Malcolm Walker
takes everyone up to the organ loft
to see an extraordinary discovery
Steven Devine and Emily White
are particularly interested
The seventeenth century organ console
installed by John Loosemore
has been removed and sent to Durham
for repair and refurbishment
revealing an inscription by a former choral scholar
- baroque composer MATTHEW LOCKE!
Beneath the inscription
the original seventeenth century
floor tiles!
The loft also has some relatively modern
but equally fascinating decorations
Malcolm points out
the vertiginous walkway
under the clerestory
leading to the West Front
In the opposite direction:
The East Window
- as seen from inside the
seventeenth century organ console
Malcolm explains the history of the console
during the English Civil War
to a very interested visitor:
Organist Steven Devine
The concert?
Friday evening was fabulous.
So many beautiful voices
breathtaking baroque instrumental music
and those tremendous trumpets.
JanJoost van Elburg
and the Blackdowns Early Music Projects choir
take a bow
A wonderful evening
for Blackdowns choral singer
Soprano Zoë Fitzsimmons
and her father
Bass Rick Fitzsimmons
And in the audience
more musicians:
Emma Bettany and Ben Pennington
(plus mystery guest - 'your name here'!)

Many thanks to Catherine and Geoffrey Bass

and their creation, Blackdowns Early Music.

A very impressive and enjoyable evening of music, perfect for the traditional setting of Exeter Cathedral.

Here's hoping for more in the future . . . 



Talking of Matthew Locke:

Margaret Faultless
Lympstone Entertainments
Lympstone Parish Church
(Nativity of the Virgin Mary)
Saturday 7 September 7.45pm
GLI AMICI
Leader: Margaret Faultless
(Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment)
'Cello Soloist: Jonathan Rees
Antonio Vivaldi
('Cello Concerto in A minor)
George Frideric Handel
Georg Muffat
Matthew Locke
John Dowland
Tickets: £10
John Welton: 01395 271915

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