Thomas Tallis ~ Ave Rosa sine spinis,
In manus tuas, Candidi facti sunt
Robert Fayrfax ~ Eternae laudis lilium
Walter Lambe ~ Nesciens mater
John Taverner ~ Christe Jesu Pastor bonus
Lamentabatur Jacob ~ Cristóbal de Morales
Patrick Craig writes: ‘St Michael’s Church’s prize possession is the Lyme Tapestry, a depiction of a marriage widely accepted to be the work of Flemish weavers around 1500. The identity of the parties involved in the marriage is still veiled in uncertainty. We will explore the history and music surrounding the tapestry and the three possible royal weddings that it portrays. With music from early Tudor England as well as Spain to represent the possible brides, this programme will also touch upon one of the greatest royal tragedies of the sixteenth century.’
Patrick Craig is a countertenor and conductor. Since 2012 his regular Lacock courses, combining exploration of 16th and 17th century sacred music within its historical and cultural contexts, have been widely praised. 
He is a Vicar Choral at St Paul’s Cathedral, a member of The Cardinall’s Musick and sang a thousand concerts around the world with the Tallis Scholars over a period of twenty years. He began conducting as organ scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and then spent two years studying singing at the Royal College of Music. He went on to found and direct Aurora Nova, the first all-female professional choir to lead Sunday worship at St Paul’s Cathedral. He led them on their first tour of USA, and also conducted the City of London Sinfonia in a series of orchestral Masses at St Paul’s. Other conducting opportunities followed including guest conducting The Cardinall’s Musick at the Brinkburn, Brighton, Lichfield and Aldeburgh Festivals. He is also the Director of Temenos chamber choir in Sevenoaks, with whom he has conducted Bach’s Magnificat and B minor Mass and Handel’s Dixit Dominus. In 2019 Patrick conducted his first Messiah in the Lichfield Festival, Biber’s 53-part Missa Salisburgensis in Thaxted, and made his conducting debut in Hong Kong.
The course
Music for the Lyme Regis Tapestry is for invited choral singers who are good readers, have a blending, straight voice (or one with a controllable vibrato) with full dynamic range, are used to normal choral discipline and are able to respond quickly to direction – the intention being to combine professional pace of work with amateur enthusiasm. There are places for seven singers in each of the soprano, alto, tenor baritone and bass sections. The plan is to meet for a 5pm session on Monday the 5th of April, followed by a group dinner in a restaurant in the town. Then from Tuesday to Saturday there will be rehearsals from 9.30am to 1pm and from 5pm to 7pm. All rehearsals will be held in the church of St Michael the Archangel. On Saturday the 10th of April we will give a public performance in the church, followed by a second group dinner, which will mark the end of the course. On other evenings we will dine in smaller groups. Meals are not included in the fee for the course. All the music will be printed in a booklet and sent to you before the course, either as a printed booklet or as a digital file to be read on a tablet.
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is an attractive seaside town in Dorset, once a mediaeval port of some importance. 
The ‘Regis’ dates from its royal charter from Edward I in 1284. The harbour wall, known as The Cobb, features in Jane Austen’s Persuasion and John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman. The cliffs and beach are a noted Jurassic fossil site. The course will take place in the attractive parish church of St Michael the Archangel above Church Cliff, which dominates the old town. It dates back to the 12th century and was rebuilt in the early 1500s.
Travel and accommodation
The nearest railway station is Axminster, six miles away. If you are travelling from the south east, trains are operated by South Western Railway with a direct service between 
London Waterloo and Exeter stopping at Woking, Basingstoke, Salisbury, Axminster and other stations. From Birmingham and the Midlands, change trains at Exeter. Lyme Regis is a popular summer resort, so in April it should be easy to find hotels, b&bs and self-catering accommodation through the normal online channels or https://www.visit-dorset.com/lyme-regis/where-to-stay/hotels/.
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 £684, payable in two parts: a deposit of £342 or the equivalent in euros on registration and a further £342 by the 1st of March. 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 the booklet containing all the music, which will be sent to you in advance. Accommodation and travel are not included.
