Corsham Lamentations

How lonely sits the city ~ English Lamentations

Thomas Tallis ~ Lamentations, Suscipe quaeso
Robert White ~ Ad te levavi
Osbert Parsley ~ Lamentations
Philip van Wilder ~ Aspice Domine
Clemens non Papa ~ Job tonso capite
Nathaniel Giles ~ Tibi soli peccavi

Rory McCleery writes: ‘Our programme draws on music from three important and deeply personal English manuscripts, the Sadler partbooks, the Baldwin partbooks and Commonplace book, named after their respective authors and including some of the most astounding works circulating in England in the late sixteenth century. The frequency with which composers of the late Renaissance set texts of lamentation, mourning and supplication speaks of the enormous artistic and expressive potential that these offered, and this is certainly true of our selection, embracing both well-known pieces by Thomas Tallis (his Lamentations and Suscipe quaeso) and rarer gems by Osbert Parsley, Nathaniel Giles, Clemens non Papa and Robert White.’

Rory McCleery began his musical career as a chorister at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh and later studied music at Oxford, as both an organ and an academic scholar. He is the founder and director of The Marian Consort, which has become renowned for its compelling interpretations of a wide range of repertoire, particularly the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, but also of works by contemporary British composers. As a countertenor, Rory greatly enjoys performing as a soloist and consort singer in concert and recording with ensembles including The Dunedin Consort, Contrapunctus, The Monteverdi Choir, The Sixteen, The Gabrieli Consort, Le Concert d’Astrée, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Cardinall’s Musick. Recent solo performances have included Bach St John and St Matthew Passions; Handel Messiah, Dixit Dominus and Ode for the birthday of Queen Anne; Pärt Passio; Purcell Come ye sons of art, Ode to St Cecilia and Welcome to all the pleasures; Monteverdi Vespers of 1610; Rameau Grands motets; and Britten Abraham and Isaac in venues across the UK and Europe. He collaborates regularly with the Rose Consort of Viols and is a passionate believer in the importance of music education and singing for young people.

THE COURSE
Corsham Lamentations is intended for experienced choral singers who are good readers, have a blending, straight voice (or 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 six first and six second sopranos, six first and six second altos, six tenors and six basses. The plan is to start the course with an afternoon (5pm-7pm) session on Sunday the 21st of March. All rehearsals will be held in the Town Hall in the centre of the town. This opening rehearsal will be followed by a supper in a nearby restaurant. Then from Monday to Friday there will be rehearsals from 9.30am to 1pm and from 5pm to 7pm. On Friday the 26th of March we will give a public performance, followed by a second group supper, which will mark the end of the course. On other evenings we will break into smaller groups to eat at the many restaurants in the town. The two group 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.

CORSHAM
Corsham is an attractive small town in the south Cotswolds, its many fine buildings attesting to its mediaeval prosperity from the wool trade, and later, the quarrying of Bath Stone. Corsham Court, an Elizabethan stately home is well worth visiting for its impressive picture collection including a Betrayal of Christ by Van Dyke and an Annunciation by Fillippo Lippi, Chippendale’s largest delivery of furniture, Adam decorations and a park, with public access, landscaped by Capability Brown. The Corsham Winter School will be held in the recently refurbished Victorian town hall, an excellent singing venue with good heating, lighting and acoustics.

ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVEL
You arrange your own accommodation. Corsham has a range of places to stay: bed and breakfast houses in the town or surrounding countryside, pubs, comfortable hotels, self-catering cottages and the spare rooms of local supporters of the course. We will send you a list when you have accepted a place. The nearest railway stations are Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon (the hyphens are necessary if you are dealing with it on the internet); National Express coaches from London Victoria and Heathrow stop on the edge of the town, making Heathrow as convenient an airport as Bristol.

FEES AND ENROLMENT
The fee for the course is £545, paid in two parts: a deposit of £245 or the equivalent in euros on registration and £300 by 1 February. 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 the booklet containing all the public domain music, which will be sent to you in advance, but not meals or accommodation.