This is a stub; I’ll get to it by tomorrow, I hope.
Meanwhile, here’s the
“Boston Globe review”:http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/06/18/long_ago_and_far_away_for_young_and_old_alike/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+A%26E+%2F+Music+-+CD+and+music+reviews%2C+news+and+clips” of Saturday night’s concerts.
Leave a comment if you want to talk about this concert.
Back in December of 2005 E. Bradke wrote to a dance list:
> Speaking of short bows, I had a chance to try out a baroque bow.
> Fabulous for morris tunes – you can hit three strings at once if you
> try, and it’s light as a feather.
Off to the exhibition halls to look at baroque bows — quite a few bowmakers were exhibiting. They are nice — light, quick and agile; they definitely make you feel like you want to do more with the bowing arm.
Stopped at the table of Richard Rigall, who gave me an introduction to the features and differences of his various bows; explained the woods, weights, lengths and other options, then laid out a selection to try and handed me a violin upon which to assay them.
Unfortunately I read most of my baroque repertoire from sheet music and only vaguely remembered some of the solo works, so it was dance tunes that I played quietly. These bows seem ideal for Scottish strathspeys, quick and light on the snaps! Then on to a morris tune (Morris dance is old, right? Early music!) with lots of bow ornament, since that bow felt so lightning fast, when I noticed eyes in the hall looking behind me. It was Nutting Girl that was rolling off the strings, and a flute-maker adjacent had heard it and was doing the steps in the hall. Hang the subtlety, let the rosin fly and make the fiddle sing for the capers and chorus, as he danced round a table, while keeping mindful of the low ceiling and sprinkler heads.
Another vendor quipped “that’s the most life we’ve seen out of him all day!”
I would say that bow certainly passed the danceability test! Yes, could do three strings at a time, still had to roll it to get four.
BEMF opening Gala at French Library after the opera. We started an hour before the guests were to arrive, assisting the caterer by carrying baskets of food, bowls of sauces, arranging cookies and breads. An unexpected question: “Can you arrange flowers?” Not my specialty, but for a time I cut and positioned papyrus reeds, orchids and geraniums in vases to decorate the banquet tables.
Soon the curtain dropped at the opera and people started to arrive. And arrive, and arrive, until the rooms were near capacity. There were conversations in French to be heard along with other languages, not all of them familiar. Old friends met, new acquaintances made. Ample amity and enjoyment went on in all the rooms.
Tenor J_M_ who usually sports a fine beard was seen bare-chinned, the reason? “Can’t have a beard when you play a girl“, which he did in several different roles in Psyche.
More trays of food to carry up the stairs, cups and plates to collect and carry down the stairs, until the Librarie manager blinked the lights. Final cleanup, then a slow process of leaving, as the evening merriment continued in the vestibule, on the stair, and a milling throng on the sidewalk. It was at least an hour into the next day before home and rest.
It has been said that there are three kinds of people:
(1) Some people MAKE things happen,
(2) Some people WATCH things happen, and
(3) Some people say “WHAT HAPPENED?”!
In reverse order, yes, as significant an event as this is to us, there are those who have no idea that this festival is taking place in their town. It just does not grab the Press or other media like a Shriners’ convention or MacWorld.
In the second place there are the patrons and audiences who enjoy the performances and make it possible to pay the bills. Enjoy the festival, we try to make it a good experience for you.
Then, to make the festival happen, there are of course the artists — instrumentalists and vocalists and instrument makers, and the like. Add to this the staff who attend to management of all the details that keep things running smoothly. There are also the volunteers, that cadre of people who set aside time from their daily tasks to carry, check, fold, sell, guide and aid the staff and attendees in whatever way is needed. You will see us around, we are the people in the blue polo shirts.
I haven’t had time to write this, but here’s the “Boston Globe review”:http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/06/16/early_music_pilgrims_show_their_devotion_at_festival/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+A%26E+%2F+Music+-+CD+and+music+reviews%2C+news+and+clips of the Thursday evening concerts. Feel free to leave a comment.
I haven’t had time to write this, but here’s the “Boston Globe review”:http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/06/16/early_music_pilgrims_show_their_devotion_at_festival/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+A%26E+%2F+Music+-+CD+and+music+reviews%2C+news+and+clips of the Thursday evening concerts. Feel free to add your comments.
h3. You too can play this music.
We don’t have the actual arrangements they sang, but there’s a three part version of “Changeons Propos”:http://www.laymusic.org/music/sp/html/pieces/234.html, which they sang in the four-part version. It’s also in the “Drinking Songs”:http://www.laymusic.org/drinking.html book.
The program was entirely music by Juan Bautista Cabanilles (1644-1711), so we talked about whether the galliard would actually have been danced “on the altar” at Corpus Christi. I thought Ken Pierce would have enjoyed dancing the galliard he did on Monday on top of the altar.
We also discussed whether the Tiento‘s de falsas, which are similar to Frescobaldi elevation tocattas would have been played at the elevation. The performer thought that they went on pretty long for a priest to hold his arms up, but then remembered a story about the priest dropping the Santo Caliz, and decided maybe it was the organist’s fault for playing too long.
The playing, like a lot of playing at the festival suffered at the beginning from the performer having had inadequate time to warm up, but was fluid and engaging by the end.
The Paulist Center Library was comfortably full — people came and went a bit, but there must have been at least 30 people. There seem to be keyboard geeks who come to the festival and don’t bother with much that isn’t keyboard playing, so I never see them except at these concerts. In any case, they were quiet (important at a clavichord concert) and seemed interested.
Disclaimer: Judith Conrad is my sister.
Since I’ll have all next week to catch up on the blogging, I’ll go to the American Recorder Society breakfast (9:30) and playing session. Then in the same building there’s the ??Royal Wind Music?? concert.
At 8 PM, there’s the ??Artistic Directors’ Performance and Pub Recommendation?? at Jacob Wirth’s pub on Stuart St. It was a good party last year. I think I’ll eat before going, and maybe just have dessert there, since it was crowded enough to make the service pretty slow, and I enjoy drinking that much beer better on a full stomach. I think they close at 10; last year someone still needed food, so a bunch of us went on to the ??Rock Bottom brewery?? up the street, which stays open until a more reasonable hour.
Basically, I have concluded that if I don’t do this blog in the morning, it doesn’t happen, so I’m not planning any morning stuff. if I have unfinished business at the exhibition, I’ll go there before the “recorder masterclass”:http://www.bemf.org/pages/06fest/concur.htm at 4 PM at Emmanuel Church.
I also have tickets to both the 8PM ??Le Poème Harmonique?? concert and the 11PM ??Tragicomedia and Friends?? concert.
I rode the train back after the concert with Martha Bixler, and she told me how much she likes getting music from “laymusic.org”://www.laymusic.org, and that she often used the “Morley Canzonets for two voices”:http://www.laymusic.org/can2v.html with her students.
LayMusic.org 