• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Uganda 2013

Musiewild's blog

~ An occasional blog, mainly photos

Musiewild's blog

Tag Archives: Tallis

Arnhem Remembered 1

22 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by Musiewild in History, Music-making, Photography, Travel

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

A Bridge Too Far, Amsterdam, Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, Arnhem, Bartolomiej Pekiel, Dominicanenklooster, hugo Dostler, Huissen, Huub de Lange, In Flanders Fields, J C Bach, John McCrae, Kathryn Rose, Lingewaard, Marianne Schuurmans, Montgomery, Operation Market Garden, Parry, Peter C Lutkin, Peter Leech, Schiphol, Tallis, Utrecht

I have just spent a week in the Netherlands, commemorating with an ‘International Liberation Choir’ of 24 singers, the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, also known as the Battle of Arnhem. “In the summer of 1944, the Allies launched a daring airborne operation to secure the River Rhine crossings and advance into northern Germany. Although it ultimately failed to achieve its objectives, the determination and courage shown by the airborne troops and the units that assisted them made Market Garden one of the Second World War’s (1939-45) most famous battles.” (The opening of the National Army Museum’s account. See also the Imperial War Museum’s story in pictures, and a very full account in Wikipedia.)

Friday 13th September. I had had about two hours’ sleep the night before, reading far too late about the Operation, and about the authenticity of the film, ‘A Bridge Too Far’ which I had just watched, (very authentic, except that Montgomery is let off lightly at the expense of Browning), and worried that I would not wake up at 3.15.

Arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, I boarded a train to Arnhem, where I arrived about lunchtime, despite a 75-minute delay at Bristol Airport for lack of buses from terminal to plane.

No-one with me on the upper deck of the train. Am I on the right one?
Yes
The very flat Dutch countryside
The Amsterdam-Rhine Canal accompanies the railway line as far as Utrecht, used here by a pleasure boat,
and here by a commercial one.
Examples of the double-decker train I was on, and a regional train.
Given that this was the Netherlands, I saw hundreds and hundreds of bicycles during the week. But this was the only tandem tricycle I saw, here on the railway platform of a station we passed through.

Fortified by an excellent mushroom and cheese omelette at the Robin-Hood bistro café …

Again I have the place to myself!

… I caught the no. 300 bus to Huissen, for a short walk to the Dominican monastery where most of us were to stay (several lived near enough not to have to) and to rehearse.

View from my window.

The main function of the monastery, which now has only four monks, is as a modest guest house for groups and individuals. Far from a spartan cell, my room was comfortable and a very decent size. Showers and loos were a short way down the corridor, but there was a basin in each room.

I spent the rest of the afternoon settling in and relaxing in my room, before meeting the others in the dining room for a very early evening meal. The choir was 24-strong: 12 Dutch, 9 British, two German and one American. Sadly the only Polish representative had had to drop out shortly before the week, and the organiser, the amazing Beatrix, had not been able to find a Canadian singer at all. These six countries were those involved in Operation Market Garden in 1944. The British conductor, composer, and lecturer, Peter Leech, directed the music.

Saturday, 14th September. I explored the grounds for a few minutes before breakfast.

We were not the only guests. When we arrived there was also a group in residence studying meditation for the weekend, and others came and went during our stay.

The whole of Saturday was spent discovering and rehearsing the repertoire for our concerts. Early on, the director of hospitality led Marianne Schuurmans, mayor of Lingewaard (the municipality which includes Huissen, link is to map), and the prior of the monastery into the chapel to welcome and thank us. In excellent English.

We had the splendid library to ourselves for our breaks.

Not surprisingly, our moving programme told of war, of death, of remembrance, of commemoration, and of peace and hope. It included works by composers and poets of the six nations, including Tallis and Parry, the Canadian Kathryn Rose, Huub de Lange, J C Bach and Hugo Distler, the Polish early baroque composer Bartolomiej Pekiel, the American Peter C Lutkin, and three pieces by Peter Leech. I was choking as we first sang through his ‘In Flanders Fields‘, a poem by the Canadian physician and lieutenant-colonel John McCrae, apparently well-known but which I had never come across before.

After another early evening meal, there was time for a wander round the town.

I was delighted to catch the tail end of a carillon.

Back to the monastery.

I saw an information board which told me that it had been founded in the 19th century, and had played an important role in the war, when much of the territory around had been flattened. The clean and peaceful present-day surroundings were such a contrast.

Model of the monastery and its guest house in the vestibule.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

A concert in Wells Cathedral

31 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by Musiewild in Music-making, People, Photography

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Hassler, Jacquet de Mantua, Morales, Pepylling Wynde, Peter Leech, Renaissance, Sheppard, Spem in Alium, Striggio, Tallis, Tallis Voices, Wells, Wells Cathedral, Wells Museum

Last Friday I sang with a large group of musical friends from near and far, calling themselves Tallis Voices, in a rather special concert in Wells Cathedral. It was to celebrate ten years of having done so, just once a year, usually on just a day and a half of rehearsals.  This time we had two whole days to rehearse, a real luxury. The main work was Tallis’s wonderful 40-part ‘Spem in Alium’, to which were added works by Striggio, Morales, Hassler, Jacquet de Mantua, and Sheppard, all renaissance masterpieces.

We met mainly in Wells Museum’s meeting room, but we spent a few hours in the Cathedral itself, and I managed to dash around and take a few photos before, and even during that time.

It was a grey afternoon as I firstly wandered around outside.

Wells Cathedral and Spem27

Wells Cathedral and Spem26

Wells Cathedral and Spem25

Vicars’ Close

Wells Cathedral and Spem24

Wells Cathedral and Spem23

North door

Wells Cathedral and Spem22

Here are some general views inside.

Wells Cathedral and Spem21

From the west end

Wells Cathedral and Spem20

The famous ‘scissors’ were added a century or so after construction to stop the tower falling in.

Wells Cathedral and Spem19

From behind the altar

Wells Cathedral and Spem18

The organ and half the choir stalls

Wells Cathedral and Spem17

Wells Cathedral and Spem16

Sorry about the musicians’ clobber

Wells Cathedral and Spem15

The famous steps, leading up to…

Wells Cathedral and Spem14

… the Chapter House

Some details.

Wells Cathedral and Spem12Wells Cathedral and Spem11Wells Cathedral and Spem10

Wells Cathedral and Spem9

A clock in the north transept even more splendid than the one outside

Wells Cathedral and Spem8Wells Cathedral and Spem7

Singer’s eye view

Wells Cathedral and Spem6Wells Cathedral and Spem5

Wells Cathedral and Spem4

This half of the choir sang the Morales in the south transept.  My half sang the Jaquet de Mantua in the north transept.

Wells Cathedral and Spem3

Our conductor, Peter Leech, showing us something on his score of the 40-part Tallis piece.

The instrumentalists, Pepylling Wynde,  played in some of the works, and performed on their own as well.

Wells Cathedral and Spem2The sun came out at the end of the afternoon.

Wells Cathedral and Spem1

No pictures of the concert for obvious reasons. Thank you Chris, Sue, and Peter for a thoroughly enjoyable two days.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Singing in Thorverton

16 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by Musiewild in Countryside views, Music-making, Photography, Travel

≈ 16 Comments

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.

0100102001

The music-making was to take place in Thorverton Parish Church, which I was very pleased to find was heated.

0300104001

05001

Cottage by the side of the church

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:

 

10001
11001

This little fellow, about 30 cm/12 ins high, was at my right shoulder all day.

06001

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.

0700108001

09001

(I have no idea..)

I did pop out into the churchyard for a couple of minutes, but soon popped in again, it was so bitterly cold.

1200113001

We had to go out for lunch though, taken in the Thorverton Arms.

14001

Here are mein host and his frau.

15001

It had warmed up a bit, so I spent a little longer in the churchyard after lunch, admiring the great diversity of headstones.

16001
17001
18001
19001
20001
21001
22001

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.

23001

During the tea break

24001

an audience started arriving

25001

to hear a final run through of the pieces we had been working on.

26001

RHJ introducing the pieces

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.

27001280012900130001

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • The Newt in Somerset – May 2023
  • Forest Lodge Gardens
  • Lesvos 9 – second Wednesday and Thursday
  • Lesvos 8 – Tuesday
  • Lesvos 7 – Monday
  • Lesvos 6 – Sunday (part 2)
May 2023
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Apr    

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015

Blogroll

  • Avalon Marshes 'Hands on Heritage'
  • Londonsenior
  • Salmon Brook Farms
  • The Jaguar
  • Tootlepedal's blog

Recent Comments

Musiewild on The Newt in Somerset – M…
Musiewild on The Newt in Somerset – M…
maryh on The Newt in Somerset – M…
Christine on The Newt in Somerset – M…
Musiewild on The Newt in Somerset – M…

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Musiewild's blog
    • Join 201 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Musiewild's blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: