Festival Central Program Week 2 Afternoon Classes

Early Afternoon 1:45 - 3:00 p.m.

The Teares of the Muses with Rainer Beckmann and Jason Priset

Open to intermediate to upper intermediate recorders and lutes

Class Description

John Dowland wrote and published a vast number of songs that exist in multiple versions as lute songs for one and four voices, as stylized dances for closed consort, as well as lute solos. In this class we will explore Dowland's four Bookes of Songes in combination with his Lachrimae collection for instruments. There will be comparisons between the different versions of songs to help better inform your playing as recorderists and lutenists. This will include ornamentation, diminutions, and working together on varied and vibrant renditions of these songs. Instrumental music by Holborne, Brade, Adson, and others, making use of modern lute transcriptions (a practice based on historic precedent), will add variety. Open to intermediate to upper intermediate recorders and lutes.

Renaissance Recorders Consort with Saskia Coolen and Patricia Petersen

For Renaissance recorders

Class Description

One-on-a-part consort for accomplished players/owners of Renaissance recorders. Blend and ensemble skills emphasized. Performance a possibility. For players familiar with Renaissance recorder fingering who own or can borrow Renaissance consort recorders. Due to the pandemic we will not be sharing recorders in class, therefore all players must bring at least two sizes.

L’Homme Armé Mass Settings with Annette Bauer

For players and singers with experience reading original notation

Class Description

We count over forty mass settings using the L’homme armé tune as a cantus firmus in the tenor. The tune about the armed man that is to be feared can be traced back to the mid-15th century political setting of a westward-expanding Ottoman Empire, and the newly founded Order of the Golden Fleece calling for a new crusade, which never materialized. As a mass setting, L’homme armé took on a dynamic of its own and became a composer’s challenge of sorts—from Du Fay, Ockeghem, and Regis to Josquin, Busnois, La Rue, Orto, and Compère, all the great composers of the time are represented with their own setting, displaying their compositional and notational virtuosity. The tenor appears in augmentation, in diminution, in retrograde, in inversion, in fuga (modern canon), in various transpositions, in mensuration canons, and the full range of the possibilities of late 15th century mensural notation is explored.

Medieval Track: It’s Easy Being Green: Mode, Text, and Accompaniment in Hildegard’s Chants with Tracy Cowart and Sian Ricketts

Open to all instruments and voices

Class Description

The Medieval mystic and musician Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) beheld the cosmos as permeated with viriditas (living greenness) and tended by healers. Come be refreshed in a musical garden with Tracy Cowart (voice, harp) and Sian Ricketts (recorder, douçaine). We’ll use Hildegard’s viriditas chants to experience her use of mode, as well as work with declamation cues found in her neume notation and Germanic Latin texts. We’ll also explore strategies for vocal and instrumental arrangement and semi-improvisational accompaniment in medieval chant. This class will make use of both facsimiles and modern transcriptions; most of the time will be dedicated to group practice with the possibility of dividing longer pieces into smaller groups/solos based on interest.

J. S. Bach’s Art of Fugue with Letitia Berlin

For upper intermediate to advanced recorders

Class Description

Johann Sebastian Bach's fugues in Die Kunst der Fuge feature not only a wealth of contrapuntal techniques and procedures, they are also rich explorations of diverse affects, moods, and characters. Engage with this sparkling polyphonic universe by working on four of the fugues, all adapted for recorder quartet..

Boismortier, Telemann, and More for Baroque Flute and Recorder with Na'ama Lion

For flutes and recorders, upper intermediate to advanced

Class Description

Trio sonatas, duets, and quartets for Baroque flutes and recorders taken from the vast literature composed mostly for music making at home, although some of the literature is quite challenging! We will explore Boismortier’s settings for 3 upper parts and bass, as well as gems from the trio sonata repertoire, including Marin Marais, Anna Bon, Telemann, and more. Pitch: A=415..

1,000 Regrets in Five Days with Wendy Powers

Open to upper intermediate to advanced recorders

Class Description

A study of Josquin’s late, famous Mille regretz by looking each day at different aspects of the song through related works by Josquin and composers such as Ockeghem, Sermisy, Susato, Gombert, and Morales.

Ms 18810: Music from the Court of Maximilian I with Wouter Verschuren

Open to mixed loud instruments

Class Description

The five beautiful part books of Ms 18810 are now preserved in the Austrian National Library. The are likely to originate from Munich and contain 86 short pieces by composers such as Josquin, Isaac, Senfl, and De la Rue in 3, 4, 5, and one in 6 parts.Senfl, as court composer of Maximilian, was closely connected to this collection.

French and Flemish Chansons and their Dance Counterparts with Joan Kimball

Open to mixed loud instruments

Class Description

French and Flemish dances of the 16th century often borrowed their melodies from French chansons. We will play dances from both the Susato and the Attaignant dance collections and explore their connection with vocal counterparts, playing a variety of chanson settings by composers Claudin de Sermisy, Nicolas Gombert, Josquin des Prez and their contemporaries.

Viol Consort: English Music with Lawrence Lipnik, Loren Ludwig, Rosamund Morley

For viol players

Class Description

Consort music in England reached a peak of excellence in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and forms a staple repertoire for viol players today. This class will give you a chance to revel in the delights of the English consort with like-minded players – live and in person! Composers may include Jenkins, Lawes, Gibbons, Lupo, Ward, Ferrabosco, and others. We'll explore technical and musical opportunities (and challenges!) specific to each piece and the repertoire as a whole. Pitch: A=415.

Music from the Moravian Archives with Alissa Duryee

Open to keyboard, continuo and melody instruments, and singers

Class Description

In this class, we will explore music held in the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Specifically, we will look into the contents of several household musical notebooks dating from 1753 to 1805, which give us a glimpse into music-making and pedagogy taking place in Bethlehem’s Moravian community during this period. Some of this music is European in origin, some of it composed by members of the Bethlehem Moravian community, and some of it is anonymous. The available repertoire is suitable for the following instruments: keyboard solo, harpsichord four hands, keyboard and voice, sometimes with obligato instruments, continuo and unspecified treble instrument. Singing may be done by participants focusing on voice, but also by keyboard players doing "self-accompaniment", and by members of the class as a group, depending on the nature of the repertoire. Come discover this interesting link between local history and historical performance practice.

Return to Sorrento! with Carol Marsh

For recorder players with intermediate-level notation skills; others by permission of the instructor.

Class Description

It’s been three long years since we visited the music of 14th-century Italy (a.k.a. the Trecento). Join us for an exploration of the elegant melodies of Jacopo da Bologna, Francesco Landini, and others. Because of its “bar-line” structure trecento notation is more accessible than French music of the same period.

New London Assembly: Dance Performance with Cecile Laye

Some spaces may be available for non-NLA participants, with the approval of the NLA director.

Class Description

This workshop will focus on working up dances for performance: selecting the dances, preparing our body, working on consistency in style, timing, phrasing and presentation; adapting dances to the stage; and performing them at some point during the week. It will cover an in-depth look at four, mostly modern, dances, some of them to Purcell tunes. .

Late Afternoon 3:30 - 4:45 p.m.

Singers in the Choral Workshop are welcome to choose a late afternoon class, there is no Choral Workshop class this period.

Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque—What’s the Difference? with Jennifer Streeter

For intermediate and up recorders and viols

Class Description

Through a combination of playing (lots) and discussion (some) we will uncover key features of each musical period. Gain an understanding of musical forms from the apex of Medieval polyphony, through the flourishing of the Renaissance and on to the musical architecture of the Baroque

El Siglo de Oro: A Century of Sacred and Secular Musical Treasures from Spain’s “Golden Age” with Lawrence Lipnik

Open to singers and instruments, intermediate and up

Class Description

Explore music of 16th-century Spain associated with the tolerant, multi-cultural city of Toledo: from the suave, sophisticated polyphony of Morales and Victoria to the Iberian exuberance of Flecha and Guerrero.

Ars Subtilior: Advanced Notation with Patricia Petersen

Open to those with experience reading original mensural notation.

Class Description

One dot makes it larger, and one dot makes it small. Once comfortable with clefs and ligatures, and with a basic understanding of the concepts of perfection and alteration in triple meter, notation mavens next confront the more complex application of dots to the late 14th– to early 15th-century music today known as ars subtilior. Dots of perfection and division proliferate, seeming more like dots of confusion or dots of consternation, especially in conjunction with coloration and with perfection at two levels. We’ll sort it all out, using music from such manuscripts as Torino and Mod. A.

Baroque Ensembles, with faculty Hsuan-Wen Chen, Kevin Devine, Peter Lekx, Na'ama Lion, Leon Schelhase, others tba

For voice, recorder, flute, oboe, bassoon, viol, violin, harpsichord, other.

Class Description

These one-to-a-part Baroque ensembles are for advanced treble and basso continuo players who are musically and technically prepared to explore challenging repertoire. Our first priority will be to provide advanced players with well-matched ensembles. If there are more players of treble instruments than of continuo, one set of treble-line players in a trio sonata class may share a continuo section (and a coach) with another set, or some treble players may receive their second or third choices. Please list clear second and third choices. Indicate pitch: “440” or “415” or “either.”

Medieval Track: Bridging Styles and Centuries: Zacara da Teramo and Johannes Ciconia with Annette Bauer

Open to recorder players intermediate and up

Class Description

Zacara da Teramo (ca. 1350-1413/1416) and Johannes Ciconia (ca. 1370-1412) were two of of the most influential composers active in Italy around 1400. Both display a wide range and fluidity in their compositional styles, from trecento and ars subtilior, to the beginnings of Renaissance sensibilities.

Modern Recorder Music: A Tasting Menu with Frances Blaker

For recorders

Class Description

Don’t think that modern recorder music means you’ll be spending a week squeaking, squawking, and dashing across rooms to hit a gong with your recorder! Although those things have a valued place in certain modern pieces, and although we will take a bit of a peek at some extended techniques, this class will mainly focus on works that use traditional musical means in new and different ways. We’ll play everything from solo through 5 or more part

Orlande de Lassus with Marilyn Boenau

Open to mixed loud instruments, upper intermediate to advanced

Class Description

Works by this monumental composer appear in wind sources from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Join me as we experience the drama, passion, and rhetoric of this repertoire and discover why it was so beloved for wind instruments.

Tracing the Journey of an Early Latin Hymn with Joan Kimball

Open to mixed loud instruments

Class Description

A solis ortus cardine was written in the first half of the fifth century by the early Christian poet Sedulius. This beautiful melody provided the basis for numerous compositions. We will follow its path through works by both Catholic and Lutheran composers, culminating in a chorale by J. S. Bach.

Primitiae Musicales: Pavanes and Galliards by Balthasar Fritsch with Patricia Ann Neely

Open to viols

Class Description

Balthasar Fritsch (c.1570/80–after 1608) was a German composer about whom little is known. What we do know is gleaned from the dedication of a set of twelve pavans and twenty-one galliards published in 1606-07 entitled, Primita musicales. The dedication written by two Dukes of Mecklenburg, who studied with him, mentions that Fritsch was a native of Leipzig and had some renown as a performer, composer, and teacher “on all manner of instruments.” It is also believed that his dances influenced the works of Christopher Demantius and Johann Hermann Schein. Pitch: A=415.

Fugue State with Loren Ludwig

Open to intermediate-advanced viols

Class Description

What's the difference between a fantasia and a fugue (and why does it matter)? The viol's clear, transparent (but focused) sound was designed for complex Renaissance polyphony, but it works great for later styles like fugue that developed during the 18th century and beyond. This class will dive into wonderful fugues by J. S. Bach, Mozart, Shostakovich, and other, later composers whose music is less frequently played on viols. Pitch: A=415.

Medieval Track: A Mode a Day—Geography for String Players with Wendy Gillespie

Open to string players

Class Description

A journey back to the days before major and minor and the beginning of a new relationship with intervals. Each class is dedicated to a different mode and music that illustrates that mode.Pitch: A=440..

Medieval Track: Francesco and the Firenze Gang with Daniel Johnson

Open to singers intermediate and up

Class Description

One of the most magical and transformative periods in all of Western music history emerged in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries, full of stylistic and theoretical developments that led to the golden period we call the Renaissance. Music from the ars nova period (the 14th century, called the Trecento) displayed variety and expressiveness in ways not previously possible. Florentine composers such as Lorenzo da Firenze, Gherardello da Firenze, and Francesco Landini created music that was wildly exciting with incredible rhythmic variation and chromaticism and yet there was much that was incredibly delicate and tuneful.

Vocal Technique with Historical Inspirations for the 21st-Century Singer with Emily Eagen

Open to all singers

Class Description

This weeklong version of Emily's popular AEM online class is a vocal technique and repertoire class—with a twist! Singers of all levels are welcome to participate in this daily vocal workout, and from the beginning we will be up and singing. Build confidence and versatility as we do exercises for resonance, breath, articulation, and phonation, and stretch our range and stamina. The twist? We will draw inspiration from ideas from 17th- and 18th-century vocal pedagogy as we sing. What imagery, wisdom, and science helped singers use their voices in these centuries? What is "news we can use" today to help us sing? We'll draw from historical ideas of the voice to gain inspiration as we do a full vocal workout, then sing some simple songs from the Renaissance and early Baroque to try out the ideas. Gain new tools and tips for your voice, and leave with a stack of some of the most beautiful songs of the eras, as we travel back in time while we sing!.

New London Assembly: Modern Treasures with Brad Foster

Some spaces may be available for non-NLA participants, with the approval of the NLA director

Class Description

With Karen Axelrod, Audrey Knuth, and Eric Martin. This workshop will include a selection of modern dances with great tunes from both sides of the Atlantic, ranging from well-known and familiar treasures to new and less familiar material..