Concert: Lost in London скачать в хорошем качестве

Concert: Lost in London

The Reading Choral Society with the sponsorship of the Reading Musical Foundation and Discovery Federal Credit Union presents a virtual concert for your amusement. Consisting of music from Renaissance England recorded during a pandemic, this concert of short pieces is stitched together as a storyline, complete with cheesy script. The opening round by John Hilton was actually a test piece at the start of the season to explore our options in the pandemic: singing through masks together or recording ourselves individually without. The choir split up into chamber groups to offer both approaches based on preference, each group recording a short selection (Farmer, Pilkington, Morley, Bennet, Wilbye, and Campion listed below). To fill out the program, each section leader corresponded with our accompanist to record a solo piece by John Dowland, and joined together for the quintet by Byrd. Come, follow me (1650).....................................................John Hilton Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone (1599).........................John Farmer Rest, sweet nymphs (1605).....................................Francis Pilkington In darkness let me dwell (1610)....................................John Dowland Come again, sweet love doth now invite (1597)....................Dowland April is in my mistress' face (1594).............................Thomas Morley Flow, my tears (1600)..............................................................Dowland Weep, o mine eyes (1599).................................................John Bennet It was a time when silly bees could speak (1603).................Dowland His golden locks, time hath to silver turn'd (1597).................Dowland What pleasure have great princes (1588).........................William Byrd Adieu, sweet Amaryllis (1598)...........................................John Wilbye Never weather-beaten sail (1613)............................Thomas Campion Performers are listed in the credits at the end of the video. The final years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England rich period for the consumption of secular music. In 1596, the 21-year monopoly on printed music that the Queen had granted to her favorites Thomas Tallis and William Byrd ended, and the London market was suddenly flooded with collections of songs. The program list above notes the first publication date for each piece. Although all from a limited slice of history in a single location (England), these pieces provide an enjoyable breadth for the singer and listener to explore. Byrd's contribution is the earliest and published while he still held the monopoly. John Dowland was a dominant figure, and although presented as solos here, most of his music was published optional parts able to double or replace the lute. The pieces sung by the chamber choirs have all been popular among madrigal singing groups in the 20th century, a sort of "Top Hits" of the English Madrigal as a genre. In contrast, "Never weather-beaten sail" is an example of a more hymn-like approach to what would been seen as a devotional song, meant to meditate on religious concepts, but not directly intended for use in church. The opening round (the youngest piece) is of course of a completely different structure where harmony is derived by wrapping the melody back upon itself. A few notes on specific pieces. "Flow, my tears" was originally a popular instrumental piece by the same composer, reworked for singers to capitalize on its immense popularity. It is thought that the opening phrase of "Weep, o mine eyes" was intended as a direct reference to the earlier original instrumental version by Dowland. While many of the lyrics are thought to have been written by the musicians themselves, "His Golden Locks" is a poem by George Peele written on the occasion of the retirement of Sir Henry Lee. Lee had been the champion of Queen Elizabeth I, and the poem catalogues his change in state in the context of his devotion to his monarch. Ethan Nevin's editing work shows some of the characters involved through projecting artwork behind the singer's performance. Many of the songs include encoded messages, sometimes rude, and often musically clever. For instance, "Fair Phyllis" starts with just a single part alone while the lyrics mention her sitting 'all alone'. Later on, the challenging 'up and down' section of course goes literally up and down. The weeping motion of falling notes in "Flow, my tears" is another example of painting the text in music, as are the 'jarring sounds' in "In darkness let me dwell". The other commonality across these songs is that they were written not for the stage or church, but for enjoyment in a more informal setting of amateur music-making, something to be sung after dinner as entertainment for and with guests. Thank you for being our guest as we dabble not just in these madrigals, but simultaneously in the challenges of pandemic limitations. https://www.readingchoral.org/