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Presented by Road Scholar
Road Scholar National Recorder / Early Music Workshop
Enhance your technique and ensemble playing during an intensive workshop with director Letitia Berlin and other stellar faculty. Two fabulous weeks - choose either week or both!
Explore the Music of England and France from the 13th to 18th centuries, with some modern composers as well!
Week 1: October 29 - November 4, 2017
Recorder- Letitia Berlin, Frances Blaker, Louise Carslake, and Miyo Aoki
Viola da gamba- John Dornenburg
Recorder and viol technique classes geared toward application of technique practice to the repertoire - making music out of notes! Master class and consort classes
All-Workshop Orchestra, conducted by Frances Blaker
Location
The workshop takes place at the Hidden Valley Music Seminars, An Institute of the Arts in Carmel Valley, California, nestled amongst oak and buckeye trees below majestic hillsides. Along with our rich opportunities for music making, bird watching and walking can be enjoyed nearby.
Schedule
The workshop includes four daily classes, morning exercise/dance, and impromptu group playing. Wednesday includes a free afternoon to explore the beautiful Carmel Valley area, play music, or just relax.
First Period Classes The first morning period in first week for viols is viol consort/technique with John Dornenburg. Recorder players will be placed in consort/technique classes with recorder faculty Frances Blaker, Louise Carslake, and Miyo Aoki. Advanced players may choose the Play Away from the Page class with Tish Berlin.
Technique/Consort for Recorders - General technique and consort playing. These classes will be divided into three groups by level.
Viol Consort/Technique - John Dornenburg General technique and consort playing.
Play Away from the Page - Tish Berlin Leave the printed page (and your cumbersome music stand) behind and enjoy the freedom of playing without music. Some of the tools that we will use to improve our skills in listening and playing by ear are imitation, recognizing and playing intervals and melodic sequences, making divisions on ground basses, and improvising on melodies both new and old. Prepare by practicing major scales and arpeggios in C, G, D, and F and in minor scales and arpeggios in G, A, E, and D. For advanced recorders.
Second Period Classes
Master Class - John Dornenburg For upper intermediate to advanced instrumentalists who have prepared a piece for Master Class. Class size limited. Please indicate the piece you will play on your class choice form. Upper Intermediate to advanced, all instruments
Purcell Fantazias and Theatre Music - Louise Carslake Purcell's fantazias were the last great works of the vast English viol consort repertory. While rooted in the practices of Renaissance polyphony, they are highly expressive works that reflect the dramatic devices of the mid-Baroque period. We will focus on the fantasias that work best on recorders, and will also play some of Purcell's celebrated theater music. For upper intermediate to advanced recorders
La Contenance Angloise, the Sweet English Influence - Miyo Aoki In 1477, the learned theorist Johannes Tinctoris wrote that no music more than forty years old was still worth listening to. So, what happened during those forty years? Tinctoris was probably referring to the rise of a harmonious and consonant style which developed first in England and then spread to the continent. This new style, described by a fifteenth-century Burgundian poet as the contenance angloise, favored sweet thirds and sixths and is most famously represented in the music of John Dunstaple. Along with Dunstaple's own compositions and those by his English contemporaries, we'll also play music by the French composers they influenced, including Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois. For upper intermediate to advanced recorders and viols
Sarabandes and Chaconnes: Lully, Purcell, and more - Frances Blaker What could be more French than a sarabande? Why, a chaconne! Savor the full flavor of French baroque music as you learn a selection of sarabandes and chaconnes. But wait - why Purcell? you ask. English musical life in the late 17th century was strongly influenced by France once Charles the II returned
from exile, accompanied by his French musicians. We'll play chaconnes from the operas of Lully and theater works of Purcell, as well as sarabandes from trio sonatas and other instrumental groupings by both composers. For intermediate to upper intermediate recorders and viols
France and Italy at the Cusp - Tish Berlin The origins of Baroque style can be traced to French and Italian composers in the late 16th century. In France, musique mesurée, a style of polyphonic vocal composition which sets longer syllables to longer note values, and shorter syllables to shorter note values, was an attempt to imitate ancient Greek music. They hoped to reform society with this new, pure compositional style. In Italy the Florentine Camerata created monody through pursing the same goals, which led on to recitative and opera. We will explore French composers including Claude Le Jeune, Eustache Du Caurroy, Claude Goudimel, and Claude de Sermisy, and the Italians who laid the groundwork for early opera, with a focus on Monteverdi and his madrigals. For intermediate to upper intermediate recorders.
Third Period Classes
What's in a Nomine? Inventive Pieces by Tye, Parsons, Ferrabosco, and others - Miyo Aoki Lyrical melodies, inventive counterpoint, sonorous harmonies and delightfully jarring chromaticism await you in this whirlwind tour of the In nomine, an instrumental genre originating from a single movement of John Taverner's Gloria tibi trinitas mass. Inspired by Taverner's beautiful setting, other English composers took up the idea and soon the In nomine became something of a compositional rite of passage. We will explore the astounding variety of this genre and hear how composers including Christopher Tye, Robert Parsons, Alfonso Ferrabosco constructed rich polyphonic textures around the same chant melody. For upper intermediate to advanced recorders.
FROM RITUAL to REFORM: 15TH & 16TH CENTURY MUSIC in the CHURCH in SCOTLAND - Tish Berlin Musical traditions in the pre-Reformation Scottish church were similar to that in England. Most churches followed the Sarum rite, and sang schules trained boys to sing polyphonic music for the service. In the 16th century Calvinism banned instruments in the church, and imposed a strict adherence to singing Psalm settings. We will explore music from both eras, including works by Scottish composer Robert Carver (c.1485-c.1570), works by 15th English composers, and beautiful 16th-century Psalm settings by Goudimel, LeJeune, and Sweelinck, as well as Scottish composers. For upper intermediate - advanced instruments and voices
Marais: Pièces en Trio - John Dornenburg Marin Marais' Pièces en Trio, 1692, are the first trios published in France for two melody instruments and basso continuo. We will play a selection of them "en symphonie" with treble viols and tenor recorders, and basso continuo of bass viol with harpsichord. A fun intro to French Baroque style and basic ornaments. For players at the upper intermediate to advanced level.
Josquin and Others in France - Louise Carslake Some of Josquin des Prez's finest Motets and Masses are based on popular chansons, but he was not alone in this technique. Lassus, Morales and many others also excelled in this style of composition. Some of these French songs have sacred texts, such as "Susanne un Jour" others are downright bawdy. In this class we will play both the chanson and the motet or mass movement which is based on it and discover how the composer uses the original song. Be prepared for beautiful Renaissance polyphony. For intermediate to upper intermediate recorders and viols.
Fourth Period: Orchestra for All with Frances Blaker: Music of William Boyce, Elisabeth Jacquette de la Guerre, Joplin
And there's more!
- Sunday and Monday evening tutti playing sessions – all welcome (in addition to recorders and viols, bring your krummhorns and other reed instruments if you have them)
- Evening playing sessions, led by YOU! Bring your favorite pieces and be a conductor for an evening! Tuesday-Thursday
- Faculty Concert on Tuesday
- Student Concert on Friday before dinner
- Open Mic on Friday after dinner
- BYOB Happy Hour every day
Information/Registration
The Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) Early Music Workshop is open to adult recorder and viol players of all ages who play at intermediate to advanced levels. Week two includes a renaissance reeds track. Harpsichordists also welcome.
For more information contact Peter Meckel at info@hiddenvalleymusic.org or (831) 659-3115.
To register by telephone, call Road Scholar Registration toll-free at 1-800-454-5768 and ask for program number #6254RJ. To register online Click here.