Lewes Music Party

William Mundy ~ Vox patris caelestis
Thomas Tallis ~ Suscipe quaeso, Absterge Domino
William Byrd ~ Tristitia et anxietas, Tibulationes civitatum, Ne irascaris Domine
settings of When David heard by Thomas Weelkes,Thomas Tomkins and Robert Ramsay

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 three William Byrd’s pieces from Cantiones Sacrae and three settings of When David heard, a text that attracted many composers after the death from typhoid of the teenage Henry Prince of Wales in 1612. 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.

Eamonn Dougan has been a regular Lacock director for the past ten years. He is himself a singer and his courses always contain a substantial element of vocal technique. He is Associate Conductor of The Sixteen and founding Director of Britten Sinfonia Voices. Eamonn is an engaging communicator with a particular passion for the Sixteenth and Twentieth Century repertoire, Bach, the French and Polish Baroque. Recent engagements have seen Eamonn conduct Così fan tutte at the Ryedale Festival, Fauré Requiem with the newly formed Chiltern Arts Festival Chorus, and Mozart La finta giardiniera with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience Ensemble. Eamonn has a highly successful five-disc Polish Baroque series with The Sixteen. The first disc, music by Bartlomiej Pekiel, was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award (‘Richly dramatic’ – The Observer). The fifth disc, music by Marcin Mielczewski, was released to widespread critical acclaim in September 2017. Since 2008 Eamonn has been a Visiting Professor to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where he teaches ensemble singing and directs the Guildhall Consort.

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.

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 23 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 a 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 28 October we’ll give a public performance in the church in the evening. We will devote Saturday 29 October to work on William Mundy’s monumental Vox patris caelestis. I will 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.

The cost of the week is £610: a deposit of £305, plus the balance of £305 by 1 October. The fee covers all the musical arrangements including a booklet containing all the music, but not board and lodging or travel.