Tags
baroque music, Brumel, early music, gravestones, renaissance music, Robert Harre Jones, singing, Tallis, Thorverton, Thorverton Arms, Thorverton Parish Church.
It’s been a while since I posted, so I thought I’d do something on another of my great interests, singing. Especially when it consists of singing with a group of others (the fewer the better, for my liking), and when the music was written in the renaissance or baroque periods.
Today I made my way to Thorverton, a village in north Devon. It was bitterly cold outside my car, so I didn’t stop long to take photos on the way.
The music-making was to take place in Thorverton Parish Church, which I was very pleased to find was heated.
I was to join a number of other ‘Early music’ fanatics, to work on, under the direction of Robert Harre Jones, two sets of Lamentations, based on extracts from the Bible’s Lamentations of Jeremiah:
This little fellow, about 30 cm/12 ins high, was at my right shoulder all day.
It was admiring his carving that gave me the idea of taking sufficient photos to do a post, though sadly I only had my not-very-good phone camera on me. (That’s my excuse anyway.) Anyway, I took photos of a few things around the church during the coffee break.
I did pop out into the churchyard for a couple of minutes, but soon popped in again, it was so bitterly cold.
We had to go out for lunch though, taken in the Thorverton Arms.
Here are mein host and his frau.
It had warmed up a bit, so I spent a little longer in the churchyard after lunch, admiring the great diversity of headstones.
Only as I came back to the church did I notice a monument, set into the outside wall, dating back as far as the eighteenth century, though I hadn’t studied the very worn tombstones in detail for dates.
During the tea break
an audience started arriving
to hear a final run through of the pieces we had been working on.
I just adore the Tallis – that’s what had attracted me to do the workshop – and the beautiful Brumel piece was a real revelation.
It was warmer as I drove home, and I stopped a little more frequently to take photos. Fortunately, after a while I found myself on roads that didn’t permit of stopping, or I’m not sure when I would have managed to get back.
Olive Simpson said:
So that’s what Robert gets up to when he isn’t waving at us in St Bride’s! Lovely post – thanks for sharing! xx
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Musiewild said:
Your name did come up over tea… xx
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susanpoozan said:
What a lovely place to sing such fantastic music, I wish that I had been there.
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Musiewild said:
I’m sure you’d have enjoyed it.
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maryhutton2 said:
A fine record of your early music day. Thanks for an interesting tour of the church and surroundings, So glad you enjoyed the programme.
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Musiewild said:
Thanks Mary.
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Josh Gross | The Jaguar said:
The church and surrounding countryside look incredible. Also, congratulations on avoiding hypothermia.
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Musiewild said:
Devon, in the Southwest of England, is very beautiful county.
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tootlepedal said:
A thoroughly rewarding day by the sound of it. I need several other people singing loudly near me before I can enjoy myself fully so I am in awe of your wish for vocal solitude.
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Musiewild said:
One-to-a-part is my ideal, and even better when a couple of the parts are being ‘sung’ by viols.
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Deb said:
Lovely church , also I enjoyed the headstone photos.Oh yes.. I must not forget the pretty flowers!
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Musiewild said:
The bluebells in the churchyard were, sadly, Spanish bluebells, which are gradually squeezing and hybridising our pretty native ones out of existence. The Spanish ones are pretty too, but the extinction of any species is is to be regretted.
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Christine said:
J’étais sur le point de te contacter, mais je vois que tout va bien ! Merci pour le récit de cette journée. Très froid aussi en Bretagne ce week-end, et vent. Balade à la pointe St-Mathieu et Le Conquet (Brest) avec beaucoup de fleurs également (primevères, violettes) et vue jusqu’à Ouessant, à 14 km, et la Pointe du Raz, à 33 km. Bisous
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Musiewild said:
Yes, all well thank you. I was a few miles nearer to Brittany last Saturday, and will be in the same region again this weekend, again for music-making. Let us hope we both have better weather!
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Christine said:
Il faisait froid, mais il y avait un grand soleil ! Bon prochain week-end de musique
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Musiewild said:
Merci beaucoup !
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