Lewes Music Party

William Mundy ~ Adolescentulus sum ego, Memor esto verbi tui, Vox patris caelestis
Robert Parsons ~ Iam Christus astra ascenderat, six-part Magnificat, O bone Jesu
William Byrd ~ Tribue, Domine

The week will be centred on the distinctive and peculiarly English genre of the votive antiphon. These large-scale paraliturgical pieces were sung by the highly trained singers of collegiate and similar choirs as acts of communal devotion and recreation, most often as a votive observance after Compline. Of the two Eamonn would particularly like to include, Mundy’s Vox patris caelestis, is one of the largest single works in the English repertory of its day, scored for six voices, with nine substantial sections and an unusually elaborate final Amen, the whole taking nearly twenty minutes in performance. It recalls the relatively untroubled extravagances of the Eton Choirbook generation more than the upheavals of the mid-sixteenth century. We would also like to include Byrd’s monumental Tribue, Domine, the longest of his early works. We aim to convene a group similar in size to the 28 singers – not to mention the 12 chaplains – that Taverner had at Cardinal College in Oxford, with five or so singers on each line in most pieces.

Lewes
Lewes is used to coping with large numbers of visitors and has a wide range of places to stay, both in the town and in surrounding villages. In addition to the normal channels www.lewesbandb.co.uk and www.staylewes.org list many guest houses and self-catering places. There is a railway station with frequent services to London Victoria, Gatwick Airport, Brighton, Hastings and Eastbourne.

The course
All sessions will be held in the church of St Michael in Lewes in the High Street in the centre of the town. Our plan will be to meet in time for a 5pm rehearsal on Sunday 17 October. Then on the following five days to do a full morning’s work (usually from 9.30am to 1.00pm, with a break), then take an four-hour break – to rest the voice as much as anything else – and then put in another couple of hours of singing before supper. On Friday 22 October we’ll give a public performance in the church in the evening. I’ll arrange the group meal at the beginning of the week and another on the Friday evening after the concert (not included in the fee for the course) but allow the group to form into smaller groups to dine in the intervening evenings.

Fees and enrolment
The cost of the week is £575: a deposit of £255, plus the balance of £320 by 4 September. The fee covers all the musical arrangements including a booklet containing all the music, but not board and lodging or travel.