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Nicholas Ludford ~ Mass Videte miraculum, Ave cuius conceptio
John Taverner ~ Kyrie Leroy, Quemadmodum desiderat cervus
Thomas Fayrfax ~ Ave Dei Patris, O lux beata Trinitas
Christopher Tye ~ Peccavimus cum patribus
Morel ~ Honi soit qui mal y pense
Richard Davy ~ Salve Regina
Our Ludlow programme is a celebration of the glories of early Tudor sacred music. Ludford – born in London but his name has obvious Ludlow connexions – gives his Mass a double treble line, making it unique in this regard among English Masses until Vaughan Williams’s. Our repertoire includes votive antiphons, extended forms rarely heard today, being too long for church anthems and too taxing for most amateur choirs. They include Tye’s monumental seven-voice Peccavimus, with its spine-tingling interrupted cadence on the mention of the name ‘Jesu’. Morel’s oddity is a setting of the motto of the Order of the Garter, presented with the musical stave in the circular form of a garter.
Rory Wainwright Johnston is a British conductor and composer based in Berlin and made a very successful debut as a Lacock director at the Edinburgh Early Music Summer School in 2022.
He read music at the University of Manchester, followed by postgraduate studies in composition with Camden Reeves and Nina Whiteman. He then moved to Berlin and studied for a master’s degree in choral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ under Justin Doyle.
As a conductor he has worked with many choirs in both the UK and Germany and is regularly engaged as a specialist in Early Music to run workshops in both the UK and abroad. He is currently the conductor of consortium vocale berlin and works regularly with Justin Doyle and RIAS Kammerchor as assistant and rehearsal conductor, as well as with Benjamin Goodson and the Netherlands Radio Choir. As a composer, his works have been performed by ensembles, including RIAS Kammerchor, ORA Singers, BCMG, Kantos Chamber Choir, echo, Huddersfield Choral Society and Manchester Camerata.
Ludlow is one of England’s most attractive small towns, surrounded by excellent walking country. It began life as a marketplace and has in recent years reestablished a reputation for gastronomy. Proximity to the Welsh border made it an important strategic site; the young Arthur Prince of Wales, elder brother to the future Henry VIII, died in its castle in 1502. The course will take place in the magnificent mediaeval church of St Laurence, known as ‘the cathedral of the Marches’.
The course
We will aim for a group of 36, about the same size as John Taverner’s choir in Oxford. There will be places for ten sopranos, eight altos, six tenors, six baritones and six basses. Our plan will be to meet for a 5pm session on Sunday the 14th of July. Then from Monday to Friday our timetable will be:
09.30 – 11.00 first session
11.00 – 11.30 break
11.30 – 13.00 second session
13.00 – 17.00 long break
17.00 – 19.00 third session
We will arrange a supper for everyone together on the first and last evenings (not included in the fee for the course), but let the party split into smaller groups on the other evenings. We’ll give a public performance in the evening of Friday the 19th of July.
Venue
The course will be based in St Laurence’s Church, 2 College St, Ludlow SY8 1AN. The church has a magnificent tower and is unmissable on the highest point of the town.
Travel and accommodation
Ludlow is in Shropshire, about 30 miles west of Birmingham, and is on the railway line between Manchester and Cardiff, with hourly services. There is information about getting to Ludlow by car, bike, train and bus at www.theludlowguide.co.uk. The nearest international airport is Birmingham. The town has a well-organised official web site with plenty of information about the town and surrounding countryside, including a comprehensive section on places to stay at www.ludlow.org.uk.
Fees and enrolment
The fee for the course is £620, payable in two parts: a deposit of £300 or the equivalent in euros on registration and a further £320 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, but not accommodation, meals and travel. To apply for a place on this course, just fill in the application form below and press the ‘send application’ button.
