Adrian Willaert ~ Praeter rerum seriem, Inviolata
Nicholas Gombert ~ Media vita, Regina caeli, Missa Quam pulchra es
Dominique Phinot ~ Memor fui nocte nominis, Lamentations
Pierre Certon ~ Inviolata, Ave Maria
At the age of twenty-five Willaert visited the Sistine Chapel and heard the choir singing one of his motets, believing it to be by Josquin. When he told them that he was actually the composer they lost interest. This course highlights the music of some of Josquin’s brilliant followers, who even after five hundred years continue to be eclipsed by the master’s prestige. Willaert’s style is indeed similar to Josquin’s; in a clear tribute he sets two texts made famous by his model. Gombert developed Josquin’s use of imitation, making it an integral compositional device in his dense intricate polyphony. Of our other two composers, both half a generation later than the first two, Certon again sets the Inviolata text with long melodic lines that are a real gift to singers. Phinot, a pioneer of polychoral writing, begins his Lamentations setting with two groups of four singers answering each other antiphonally, gradually overlapping more and more to produce true eight-part polyphony.
Rory Wainwright Johnston is a conductor and composer from Bradford-on-Avon, near Bath and has been a Lacock director since 2022. His musical education was fostered at Bath Abbey as head chorister and then tenor under the direction of Peter King.
He read music at the University of Manchester, specialising in conducting and composition. During this time he studied piano with Richard Casey, and conducting with Mark Heron (RNCM) and Justin Doyle (RIAS Kammerchor). He continued his compositional studies in Manchester with Camden Reeves and Nina Whiteman. Rory then studied conducting with Justin Doyle at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin.
Rory is currently the assistant conductor of the Groot Omroepkoor (Netherlands Radio Choir), as well as the consortium vocal berlin; he works as a regular deputy conductor for choirs in Berlin, such as the Philharmonischer Chor Berlin, Berliner Vokalkreis. Since 2022, Rory has developed a professional relationship with RIAS Kammerchor, working as a deputy and assistant conductor for Justin Doyle, including on their last two New Year Concerts in the Berlin Philharmonie and their subsequent recordings (2022 – Handel, Judas Maccabeaus; 2023 – Bach, Magnificat in Eflat).
As a composer, his music has been performed and broadcast by a variety of ensembles and artists from across the UK and Germany, including RIAS Kammerchor, ORA Singers, BCMG, Kantos Chamber Choir, Huddersfield Choral Society, ATLAS Vokalensemble and echo.
Rory is passionate about composition education and to that end has led the ‘Young Composers Apprentice Scheme’ run by ORA Singers across the UK as part of their Young Composer Competition, in which 40 students receive eight sessions of lessons, information, and feedback about choral music, its history and how to write it.
Monteconero
The Hotel Monteconero began life in the 14th century as a monastery, latterly occupied by the Camaldolites, an offshoot of the Benedictine order. In the first half of the 20th century, abandoned and ruinous, it was taken over by the Melappioni family and over several decades converted into a comfortable hotel and restaurant with a reputation for the traditional dishes of Le Marche. Its Romanesque church in the central courtyard, spectacular setting in a natural park on a mountain overlooking the Adriatic and distant views of the Apennines have made it a favourite Lacock venue for over two decades.
For practicalities, fees and enrolment, click the tab at the top of this page.
THE COURSE
The group will be around 34 singers, with five or six places each for soprano, mean, alto, tenor, baritone and bass. The plan is to meet at Hotel Monteconero for a 6pm rehearsal in the church on Sunday the 31st of May 2026. Then from Monday to Friday there will be rehearsal sessions each morning and at the end of the afternoon. We have dinner together in the hotel. We will give a final concert in the church at the hotel in the evening of Friday the 5th of June. The course ends after breakfast on Saturday the 6th of June.
HOTEL MONTECONERO
We all stay at the Hotel Monteconero, which gives exceptional value for the degree of comfort on offer. The rate for half board per person per day excluding drinks in a double room is €114 (for the whole course €684, about £600). There is a daily supplement of €24 for single occupancy. A room will be booked for you on registration; you pay the charges direct to the hotel. Ancona is the nearest airport; Ryanair fly there from Stansted, and Lufthansa from Munich, with connecting flights from many other airports. The hotel will send a minibus taxi to meet the Ryanair flight on Sunday the 31st of May and we will arrange the sharing of taxis for other arrivals. The nearest railway station is Ancona.
FEES AND ENROLMENT
This course is for invited singers but you may register an interest by completing the form below and pressing ‘send application’. The fee for the course is paid in two parts: a deposit of £345 or the equivalent in euros on registration and €400 on or before arrival at Monteconero. The deposit may be credited to another course if you have to withdraw and we are able to allocate your place to another singer. The fee includes payment for a booklet containing all the music, which will be sent to you in advance but not travel; meals and accommodation are paid separately direct to the hotel. To apply for a place on this course just fill in the application form below and press ‘send application’.
