SINGING IN FLORENCE
a course for choral singers led by David Allinson, 11 to 15 May 2009
Choral singers of all ages and
nationalities are warmly invited to join this week of Renaissance music leading to a public performance in Florence. The course will be held in English. There is free time to explore the city in the afternoon. The general aim is to
create an intense musical experience in a relaxed and convivial setting. The central work of the course will be the Missa sopra l'aria della monica by
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643). Frescobaldi held the position of organist of St Peter's Rome for most of the first half of the 17th century and is thought of today principally as as composer of instrumental music. He did,
however, also leave a body of vocal music, including two fine Masses for double choir. The Missa sopra l'aria della monica is particularly rewarding to perform, full of surprises and original ideas, with a Credo that stands out for
its density of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic invention. The programme will also include choruses from 16th century Florentine intermedii, secular madrigalian music by composers including Vecchi, Malvezzi, Striggio, Caccini and
Cavalieri. Further works will be announced later.
David Allinson is a performer, scholar and teacher, who specializes in the history and performance of Renaissance sacred music. He was a choral scholar at Oxford, and completed his doctorate on the devotional context and meaning of early Tudor sacred music at Exeter University. He subsequently worked on the revised Grove Dictionary of Music and thereafter as assistant editor of several music periodicals, including Choir & Organ. Now based in London, David sings professionally, conducts, writes and teaches singing. He also continues his academic work: since 2001 he has lectured part-time at several Oxford colleges; in 2008 he became Stipendiary Lecturer in Music at Jesus and Lincoln Colleges, Oxford. David directs the Latin Schola at Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge; is conductor of the Hampstead Chamber Choir; and leads own early music ensemble, Cantores. In the recent past he has guest-conducted the Cambridge Taverner Choir, the Renaisssance Singers and Contrafactum. His workshops are noted for their combination of scholarship, musicianship and good humour.
Florence is justly celebrated as the epitome of all
that is beautiful in Italian civilization. A focus of the Renaissance and the birthplace of opera, it has played an important part in the history of music: Dufay, Isaac, Agricola, Verdelot, Arcadelt and Frescobaldi all worked
there. The course will be based in Casa Santo Nome di Gesù, a religious foundation which has its own accommodation. It is in Piazza del Carmine, next to the frescoes said to mark the very emergence of Renaissance art, in the
Cappella Brancacci. The course is intended for those who are passionate about singing in choirs and welcome the opportunity to rehearse the set programme in depth. You should be a competent sight-reader, have a
straight, blending voice with full dynamic range, be used to normal choral discipline and be able to respond quickly to direction – the aim being to combine professional pace of work with amateur enthusiasm. Participants are of all
ages and nationalities and come alone, with a friend or partner, or in a group. David Allinson is experienced at working with amateur musicians and the atmosphere is relaxed and informal. You should plan to arrive in
Florence by Sunday 10 May; we will make informal arrangements for anyone interested in eating together that evening. The course will officially start at 9.30am on Monday morning. Then all week there will be a rehearsal session each
morning from 9.30 until 1.00pm and another from 5.00pm until 7.00pm. The course will end with a final concert in the evening of Friday 15 May. The group will eat together in restaurants after the concert and on one other evening;
these meals are included in the fee. There is inexpensive accommodation (from
The fee is paid in two parts: a deposit of £175 on
registration (this will be returned in full if you have to withdraw before 1 March; after that you may hold it over to another course) and €250 on arrival. The fee includes tuition, a booklet containing all the music you
will need and the two suppers, but not travel or accommodation. In the Netherlands you may pay the deposit by sending €210 to account 83.52.00.205 (A van der Beek) at Fortis Bank. The course is run from Cantax House, Lacock,
Chippenham SN15 2JZ, England, 44 (0) 1249 730468, avdb@cantax.freeserve.co.uk. FOR A REGISTRATION FORM FOR SINGING IN FLORENCE,
The Casa Santo Nome di Gesù is in Piazza del Carmine
on the south bank of the river near the Ponte alla Carraia.