Edinburgh Early Music Week

MUSIC IN SCOTLAND IN THE 16TH CENTURY

Jean Maillard ~ Omnes Gentes
Robert Johnson ~ Deus misereatur nostri
Claudin de Sermisy ~ O Maria stans sub cruce
David Peebles ~ Quam multi, Domine
Adrian Willaert ~ Infelix Ego
Philip van Wilder ~ Vidi civitatem sanctam
Johannes Lupi ~ Salve celeberrima virgo
Psalm settings from the Wode partbooks

Rory really has been successful in digging out some major pieces from Scottish sources, nearly all of them not widely known. Infelix ego was Savanarola’s hugely well-known meditation on the Miserere psalm, published in no fewer than twenty-one English versions between 1534 and 1578. Willaert was the first of many, including Byrd, to set it. He uses a descending and ascending cantus firmus of Miserere mei, Deus high in the texture, with the words of Psalm 51 echoing in and out of focus and culminating as the other five voices join the final statement. Van Wilder’s Vidi civitatem is another substatial work; this vast and imposing six-voice motet is also attributed to Gombert. However, the fact that the piece survives only in British manuscript copies strongly implies that it was made expressly for a Tudor recipient, whether as a gift or to commission.

Rory McCleery writes: ‘Sacred music from Renaissance Scotland is often unjustly overlooked, at least in part because of the paucity of surviving sources from the period. Those manuscripts that have stood the test of time and escaped the efforts of overzealous Calvinist reformers offer us a picture of a rich and vibrant musical landscape, and it is this that we will be exploring in this week in Edinburgh. Following last year’s programme, which opened the door on the treasures of Scottish Renaissance musical culture, our 2023 repertoire once again brings together extraordinary works by both native Scottish and European composers from surviving manuscripts which show the cultural connections between Scotland and the Continent, as well as the striking shift in compositional style engendered by the Scottish Reformation’.

Rory McCleery began his musical training as a chorister at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, subsequently reading music at Oxford, where he was both Organ and Domus Academic scholar at St Peter’s College before completing an MSt in musicology with distinction at The Queen’s College. He is the founder and artistic director of The Marian Consort and has conducted the ensemble in concert across the UK, Europe and North America. Under his direction, The Marian Consort has recorded extensively and become renowned internationally for its compelling interpretations of a wide range of repertoire, particularly the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, and works by contemporary British composers, and has been nominated for a Gramophone Award.
He has led workshop sessions, study days and singing courses across the UK, Germany, Spain and the USA, working with choirs of all ages and sizes in repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day. A vocal advocate for the music of the Renaissance to all audiences, Rory has written articles for both specialist academic publications and broadsheet newspapers, and appears regularly on BBC Radio 3.
Rory is also active as a countertenor, performing at venues including the NOSPR in Katowice, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, the Concertgebouw Bruges, and the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles. He has appeared as a soloist for broadcasts on ARTE, Radio France, BBC Radio 3 and German, Italian and Polish national radio, and in concert and recording with The Monteverdi Choir, La Nuova Musica, The Dunedin Consort, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Berkeley Ensemble among others. Rory also has a particular affinity for new music: he features on The Night With’s award-winning album release, and recently premiered a major new work by Graham Fitkin for countertenor soloist, orchestra and chorus.
Rory is a passionate believer in the importance of music education and singing for young people and is co-founder with his wife, harpist Rachel Wick, of Dunster Festival in West Somerset.

THE COURSE
The Edinburgh Early Music Week is intended for experienced 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 ten singers in both the soprano and alto sections, and nine in the tenors and basses. The plan is to start the course with an early evening (5pm to 7pm) session on Sunday the 16th of July, followed by a group supper in a nearby restaurant. Then from Monday to Friday there will be rehearsals from 9.30am to 1pm and from 5pm to 7pm. All rehearsals will be held in Old St Paul’s Church. On Friday the 21st of July we will give a public performance in the church, followed by a group supper, 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.

OLD ST PAUL’S CHURCH
The Summer School will take place in Old St Paul’s Church, a hidden gem of the Old Town. It is in the centre of the city, near Edinburgh Waverley Station, St Giles’s Cathedral and the Scottish Parliament Building. Entrances in Carrubber’s Close and Jeffrey Street give little clue to the splendour within this historic episcopal church with magnificent and complete late Victorian original furnishings. Still, a massive tetraptych depicting tumbling folds of white cloth, painted by Alison Watt in 2004, is displayed in the memorial chapel. The address of the church is Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DH.

ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVEL
You arrange your own accommodation. Of course there is a bewildering choice – web sites such as www.visitscotland.com and www.edinburgh.org might be a good place to start. Edinburgh University student accommodation can be rented through the firm Destiny Student (destinystudent.com). Old St Paul’s is three minutes’ walk from Edinburgh Waverley station via Market Street and Jeffrey Street. From the airport there is a tram to St Andrew Square or a Lothian Buses Airlink 100 service to Waverley Bridge, both running every eight minutes.

FEES AND ENROLMENT
The fee for the course is £590, payable in two parts: a deposit of £295 or the equivalent in euros on registration and a further £295 by the 1st of June. 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.