Well, we have worked our way through William Croft’s apparent eccentricities in O Lord, rebuke me not and have decided that, in all but very few cases, he really did mean what he wrote. And for me it was encouraging to hear choir members say ‘It’ll be worth coming to this concert just to hear that piece’. So do join us on March 19th. Continue reading
From Venetian Basilica to English Cathedral
Well, it was a great thrill to bring Giovanni Croce’s Missa Percussit Saul back to life in our November Venetian Echoes – its first complete performance since the composer’s lifetime, as far as we have been able to discover. And thanks to our colleagues Roger Judd (organ) and the renaissance brass of Meridian Sinfonia for their contributions to that memorable evening.
Since then we have maintained our tradition of carol singing in the streets and pubs of Thames Ditton in aid of local charities and had an initial look at the music for our March 2016 programme Continue reading
Explorations and Indulgences (ii)
Since I wrote my last blog posting further rehearsal and study of Croce’s mass has revealed yet more issues with its text – tempo relationships, accidentals etc etc – though we like it more and more. Do come and hear it. We may never do it like this again!
If that piece is an exploration, I must admit that there is an element of personal indulgence in the rest of the programme. Heinrich Schütz was the first non-English ‘early’ composer with whose music I got to grips, inspired by the pioneering work of Roger Norrington who remains one of my heroes. Continue reading
Explorations and Indulgences (i)
The trouble with the ‘Great Composer’ and ‘Major Work’ concepts is that a lot of very fine music goes unpublished, unperformed and unheard. While I would be the first to agree that the ‘popular’ pieces are popular for good reasons, some of the most enjoyable Ripieno rehearsals and concerts have happened when we’ve had a dig around the apparent fringes of the repertoire – our Bach Cantata Calendar is an obvious recent example. There we were dealing with an indisputably great composer but also with an area of his output that remains both little performed or fully understood, if relatively often recorded. Continue reading
Summer Reflections, Autumn (and beyond) Anticipations
When I was a teacher the Summer break (never use the phrase ‘Summer Holiday’ to a teacher – it isn’t) was for reviewing and preparation. I’ve found this habit hard to break, not that I’ve particularly wanted to do so. However, this year’s pause in Ripieno activities was a welcome one as last year we didn’t really stop but were busy filming, and then preparing for our memorable week in Barcelona.