Author: Laura Conrad

Meeting report

We played:

• Charlton, Suite Canadiana
• Sermisy, J’ayme le cueur
• Holborne,

  13. Pavane
  14. Galliard

15. Pavane
16. Galliard

• Arcadelt,
  Il
  bianco e dolce cigno
• Vecchi, Il bianco e dolce cigno
• Ravenscroft:
  • Now
    God be with old Simeon
  • Jolly
    Shepheard
  • Oaken
    Leaves
  • Hey
    ho, to the greenwood
• Stefanov, Laura’s
  Band

Schedule

Because the Walk for Hunger program will be piggybacking on the
NEFFA workshop (which has to be accessible to dropins), we can be more liberal about when we turn from a
dropin group into a performing group this year than we have been in the recent past.

We will be spending March and the first part of April largely
working on the repertoire for those two events, but you are
welcome to drop in on Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place if you’re interested in that repertoire, even
if you think you won’t be able to make either event.

However, see below.

The last two Tuesdays in April will be rehearsals for the Walk
for Hunger, and restricted to performers in that event.

However, see below.

Walk for Hunger

In order to plan the repertoire for the Walk for Hunger, I do
need to know who is planning to come. Here are the
requirements:

• You should be available for the performance, from roughly
  noon to 3 PM on Sunday, May 1.
• You should be able to make a substantial number of the
  Tuesday rehearsals in March and April, and both the April 19 and
  the April 26 rehearsals. I’d also really like to schedule an
  outdoor, daylight rehearsal, but that’s been difficult in the
  past, and will probably continue to be so.

So let me know if you’re interested in playing. It’s probably
the only chance you get to play for an audience in the 10’s of thousands.

We played:

• Eustachius, #1 from Musica Duorum
• Gervaise, XIV Bransles de Champagne
• Tmeiskin
• Obrecht,
  Tsat
  een Meskin
• Sermisy,
  Martin menait son pourceau au marché
• Sermisy, Sur
  le pont d’Avignon
• Morley,
  Hard by a crystal fountain
• Ravenscroft:
  
  • Jolly
    Shepherd
  • Miserere nostri Domine
  • Now God be with old Simeon
  • He
    that will an alehouse keep

Schedule

For the month of February, we will be having dropin meetings as
usual, at 7:45PM on Tuesdays at my place.

We have again been asked to play at the Walk for Hunger this
year, and I have said we will.

In March and April, the meetings will be limited to people who
want to perform with us, at either or both of our NEFFA workshop on Saturday April
16 or the Walk for
Hunger on May 1.

Sunny

For those of you who were worried about him on Tuesday, he is
indeed quite sick. Yesterday, he was refusing both food and
water, and needing major assistance to get up stairs, and I was
sure this was the end.

He isn’t out of the woods yet, but he’s been getting up more,
and drinking water and chicken broth and at least smelling regular
food. He walked up the stairs to the front door, and needed only
a little help with the stairs up to the first floor.

In any case, we are all mortal, and Sunny looks like he will
demonstrate this before most of the rest of us do, so if anyone
feels the need to say, “Goodbye,” I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.

I won’t clutter up this list with more reports on Sunny’s
condition, but if you’re interested in hearing regularly, let me
know.

Note new format of the subject/title. Someone said it was stupid
to call something a report on the meeting and then include other
things besides what happened at the meeting. So you are warned
that there may be other things at the bottom of the email besides
what happened at the meeting. Most of you probably already knew
that.

Report on the meeting

We played:

• Mendelssohn, Nocturne from A Midsummer Night’s
  Dream
• Pieces from Susato
  Danserie
• Holborne:
  Last will and testament
  and 54. Galliard
• Entre
  vous qui Aymés
• Ravenscroft,
  Of all the birds.

Schedule

We will meet as usual on Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place.

Starting in March, the meetings will be limited to people who
want to perform with us, but until then they will be open to
people who want to drop in.

Other events

There are several concerts this weekend which include “our”
repertoire.

Saturday I’ll be going to the Viols and
Friends Dowland concert at 8 PM in Lindsey Chapel, First
Church in Cambridge, Congregational.

Exultemus
is doing a program of Music for Voices and Viols by Byrd, Gibbons,
and Tomkins on both Saturday and Sunday.

We played:

• Campian,
  Now
  winter nights enlarge,
• Wilbye,
  Adieu,
  sweet Amaryllis
• Campian,
  Never
  weather-beaten Saile,
• Pilkington,
  Rest
  sweet nymphs
• Wilbye,
  Sweet
  honey-sucking bees
• Wilbye,
  Weep,
  weep mine eyes
• Byrd,
  Come
  to me grief forever
• White,
  Great
  Tom is Cast,
• Purcell,
  Five
  Reasons

Schedule

We will meet as usual on Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place.

Starting in March, the meetings will be limited to people who
want to perform with us, but until then they will be open to
people who want to drop in.

NEFFA

We have been scheduled to lead a workshop at NEFFA (New England
Folk Festival of the Arts) on the music of Thomas
Ravenscroft. The description says:

Thomas Ravenscroft was one of the first people to
collect and publish English Folk Music, including rounds and
ballads. This workshop will be a chance for participants to sing
(or play) some of this music.

We’re tentatively scheduled for Middle School Rm. 108 on
Saturday April 16th, 9:00pm to 9:50pm.

What this means is that between now and April 16 we need to put
together a booklet of Ravenscroft tunes, with 50 minutes of easy
stuff and maybe half an hour of harder stuff. We’ll also need
several people to commit to coming and helping pass out booklets
and set up sections and sit next to people who might be insecure
without someone who knows the music to sit next to.

One implication of this work is that the Walk for Hunger program will
probably have lots of Ravenscroft on it. This means we can have the
rehearsals in March and the beginning of April open to people who
want to play with us at either or both of NEFFA and the Walk for
Hunger.

We played:

• Praetorius, In Dulci Jubilo
• Billings,
  Africa,
  Chester, and David’s Lamentation
• Ravenscroft,
  We
  be souldiers three,
• Holborne,
  55. The
  Night Watch, 56. Almaine,
  60. The
  Honeysuckle
• Wilbye,
  Sweet
  honey-sucking bees, Weep, weep mine eyes
• Farmer,
  Fair
  Phyllis
• Ravenscroft,
  O
  my fearful dreams,

Schedule

We will meet as usual on Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place.