Category: Cantabile

The Cantabile Renaissance Band

News of the week of February 8, 2011

We played:

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.

News of the week of January 18, 2011

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:

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.

Report on the January 11, 2011, meeting

We played:

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.

Report on the January 4, 2011 meeting

We played:

Schedule

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

Report on the December 21, 2010, meeting

We played:

  • Praetorius, In Dulci Jubilo
  • pieces from Eric Katz’ Christmas songs from many
    lands
  • Praetorius,
    Psallite
  • Tchaikowsky-Ward, Dance of the Sugar-plum Fairy
  • Pieces from Carols for parties
  • Second movement from Festgesang,
    Mendelssohn’s cantata celebrating the 400th anniversary of the
    Gutenberg Bible, with the tune later used for Hark the
    Herald Angels Sing
  • Great
    Tom is Cast

Schedule

There will be a regular dropin meeting next week, and every
Tuesday for the next couple of months, starting at 7:45 PM at my place.

Everyone have a merry, joyous, happy, peaceful Christmas, New
Year, and whatever else you celebrate.

Report on the December 14, 2010 meeting

We played:

  • Pieces from Jacobean and Restoration Music for the
    Recorder
  • Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
  • Morley Canzonets for 3 voyces, XIIII through
    XVI
  • Vecchi and Arcadelt, Il bianco e dolce
    cigno
  • Purcell, ‘Tis Women
  • Ravenscroft, To Portsmouth

Schedule

The party will be this Sunday, December 19 at 5:30 PM. Please
note the later than usual start time.

I forgot to discuss whether to meet next week after this week’s
meeting, so we’ll have to do it by email. If you’ve been coming
regularly and would prefer not to come, let me know. If you would
particularly like to have a place to go play Renaissance music on
Tuesday, December 21, let me know. If I don’t hear that anyone
wants to come, I’ll cancel it, since I’m sure I’ll have lots to
do, but I’m happy to meet if people want to come.
I’ll let you know by Monday morning.

In any case, we will meet on Tuesday, December 28 and
subsequent Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place.

Party

I don’t require RSVP’s, since there will be plenty to eat and
drink, especially if everyone who comes brings some. But if you
know you’re coming, and what you want to bring, it would be useful
if you tell me, because people ask me what to bring, and it gives
me more idea of what to tell them.

Please invite people you know who might enjoy the party,
especially if you think they might be interested in joining the
group. You can point them to all the information.

Report on the November 30, 2010 meeting

We played:

Schedule

We’ll be meeting as usual on Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place,
unless we decide to discuss the Tuesday before Christmas.

Party

The party will be on December 19, starting at 5:30 PM.
Consider starting earlier than that at the concert at the
Loring-Greenough house.

I have designed two invitations:

All the graphics are by Dürer. The tagline at the top of the
foldable invitation is from To Drive the Cold Winter Away.

Report on the November 23, 2010, meeting

We played:

  • Gervaise, 14 Bransles de Champagne
  • Morley:
    • Blow, shepherds, blow
    • Deep Lamenting
    • Farewell, disdainful
    • Lady if I through grief
  • Cavendish, Come gentle swains
  • Morley, Arise, awake you silly shepherds sleeping
  • Mundy, Lightly she whipped oer the dales
  • Berg, Let us drink and be merry

Schedule

We’ll be meeting as usual on Tuesdays at 7:45 PM at my place.
There might be some modification to this around Christmas, but not
before that.

Party

This year, the only Sunday in December I could possibly have a party is
December 19. This is the day the Delight Consort, Judith Conrad,
director, with Paul Ukleja on cornetto is playing at the Loring
Greenough house, and I’d like to see it, and I suppose other
people may want to as well. The description is:

Sunday, December 19, at 3:00 pm. at the historic
Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain.

Judith Conrad with the Delight Consort performing music
ranging from the Spanish Renaissance to 18th century England, including
Christmas music by Tomas Luis da Victoria, Michel Richard de Lalande and
Samuel Wesley and music of Turlough O’Carolan and Baroque Londoners William
Williams and Johann Christian Bach. There will be a number of jolly holiday
songs in which the audience will be encouraged to join.

So we couldn’t get started until 5:30 or 6.

Saturday, December 18 and Saturday December 11 are also free on
my calendar. We tried a Saturday party once, and several people
got parking tickets although I had requested “consideration” on the
residents-only parking restrictions. I think everyone who
disputed the ticket didn’t have to pay, but it was a bit of a
nuisance.

So if you’d like to come, tell me which of those three days you
prefer, and which you wouldn’t be able to come on. I’ll make an
executive decision in the next week or so. If there isn’t enough
enthusiasm for a weekend party, we can just bring our Christmas
baking to a regular Tuesday meeting.

Report on the October 26, 2010, meeting

We played:

Schedule

The meeting next week will be in the usual time and place,
Tuesday, November 2, at 7:45 PM, at my place. Bea
has the key and will open up, and I’ll join you in progress if
closing up the polling place goes smoothly, and for a
much-deserved beer if it doesn’t.

After that, there will be normal dropin meetings for the
forseeable future.