SCOTTISH EARLY MUSIC WEEK

 a course for singers and instrumentalists led by Erik van Nevel and Kina Sellergren Oban, 2 to 8 July 2006

The Scottish Early Music Week is a combination of specialist coaching, informal festival and musical holiday. It is a period of intensive coaching and rehearsal of a set repertoire, leading to a public performance. It aims to attract musicians of all ages and nationalities, and with a variety of abilities and interests. The general aims are to broaden musical enthusiasm, to stimulate international contact and to celebrate the amplitude of Scotland's musical heritage.

Many consider Robert Carver to be Scotland's finest composer. One of the main influences on his compositional style was the generation of Franco-Flemish composers led by Josquin des Prez. This course will attempt to set the music of Carver in its historical perspective by placing his Mass for six voices alongside motets of the Josquin era and music by his continental contemporaries. The Mass dates from Carver's middle period and shows growing contrast between chordally conceived sections for full choir and more elaborate passages for reduced scoring. The course is also open to players of renaissance instruments: strings including viols and lutes, and wind; cornetts, sackbuts and curtals are particularly welcome (pitch: 440). The instrumental group will explore the extensive collection of Scottish instrumental music surviving from the 16^th century, and join the choir in some of the motets.

Robert Carver (c1490-after1546): Mass for six voices

motets and chansons by Josquin des Prez (1445-1521), Jacob Obrecht (1457-1505), Adriaan Willaert (1490-1562), Nicolas Gombert (1495-1560) and Pierre de Manchicourt (1510-1564)

Both the tutors are established Lacock figures. Erik van Nevel is the director of the early music ensemble Currende, who in their thirty-year history have performed widely throughout the world and won many awards for their recordings. He studied in Brussels and Antwerp and was kapelmeester of Brussels Cathedral for eighteen years. He is also a singer and player of the shawm and other renaissance wind instruments. Kina Sellergren is from Stockholm. She plays the baroque trumpet in the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble and Theatre Orchestra, the Friedemann Immer Consort and the Stockholm Baroque Orchestra, and the cornett in the early music ensemble Westra Aros Pijpare. She also conducts two choirs, a brass band and a string orchestra.

The course is intended for anyone with an interest in early music and a voice free of vibrato. We will aim to combine the discipline and concentration of the professional with the spirit of enquiry and enthusiasm of the amateur, in a relaxed holiday setting. Most participants will probably sing in a choir or play regularly in a small ensemble; you are welcome to enrol as an individual, with a friend or partner, or in a group. There are several full scholarships for full-time-music students, and all those under 25 are encouraged with a generous discount. Both tutors are experienced at working with amateur musicians and the general atmosphere will be very friendly and informal.

Singers will need to bring a copy of the Musica Scotica edition of the Carver Mass. It costs £8 and we will send you details of how to buy it when you register for the course. The other choral music is included in the fee and will be sent to you in advance. If you are not a fluent reader you should study your part before the course; there will not be time to start learning the notes during the week.

We meet for supper in the evening of Sunday 2^nd July. Mornings will be spent in rehearsal in the choir or in an instrumental group. Then from 1pm to 5pm there will be a break – lunch is not provided as part of this course. There will be a further rehearsal session, in which the vocal and instrumental forces may be combined, from 5pm to 7pm. We then have supper together in various restaurants of the town – these are an important part of the course and included in the fee. Wednesday will be a half-day; there will be no afternoon session and supper will not be provided. The course ends after a public concert in the evening of Saturday 8 ^th July. Non-combatants and friends are welcome to join us – just pay for the suppers you share.

You arrange your own accommodation, which is not included in the fee for the course. The area is a popular holiday destination and there is a wide choice of B&Bs, cottages and hotels. The town's Tourist Information Centre (+44 (0)8707 200630 and web sites such as www.visitscotland.com and www.oban.org.uk are a useful source of advice and bookings, and we will share the fruits of our researches.

Oban is about 90 miles northwest of Glasgow, the nearest airport. From there the three-hour trip by train or bus through spectacular Highland scenery to Oban is a journey to savour.

The fee for the week is £320, or if you are under 25, £220: £160 as a deposit on registration (it will be refunded in full if you have to withdraw before 1^st May; after that you may hold it over to another course) and the balance on arrival. This covers all tuition, the music other than the Carver, and the suppers, but not lodging. In the Netherlands you may pay the deposit by transferring Euro235 to Fortis Bank account No 83.52.00.205 (A van der Beek).

organised in association with The Early Music Forum of Scotland

FOR A REGISTRATION FORM FOR THE SCOTTISH EARLY MUSIC WEEK, CLICK HERE