John Browne ~ Salve Regina
Walter Lambe ~ Nesciens Mater
Carlo Gesualdo ~ Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday:
Sicut ovis ad occisionem, Jerusalem surge, Plange quasi virgo, Recessit pastor noster, O vos omnes, Ecce quomodo moritur justus, Astiterunt reges terrae, Aestimatus sum, Sepulto Domino
The course contrasts demanding choral music from both ends of the polyphonic era. In the complexity of its part writing, wide overall tessitura and sheer length of some of its pieces, the Eton Choirbook, in which the Browne and Lambe pieces are found, presents some of the most demanding music of any musical period. The Tenebrae Responsories are set texts for the last three days of Holy Week, the most solemn part of the church’s year. Gesualdo’s settings are stylistically madrigali spirituali, using dissonance and chromaticism to point emotional intensity, as in Christ’s suffering or Peter’s guilt, foreshadowing the expressive possibilities of the baroque era.
JanJoost van Elburg is Lacock’s longest established conductor. He studied conducting with Barend Schuurman, one of the leading teachers in Holland, at the Conservatory of Rotterdam.
He studied singing with Jelle Drayer of the Dutch Chamber Choir, Margaret Honig and Luciënne Bouwman, and with Ghislaine Morgan in England. He is conductor of the professional ensemble Descant for early music, the Bartholomew Consort in Oxford, and The Lelikoor in Amsterdam. He is a teacher of ensemble technique and training, singing, theory and choral conducting, and teaches on a regular basis at the Dutch School of Arts (Hogeschool der Kunsten).
As a singer he has performed with a wide variety of ensembles, including The Tallis Scholars, The Dutch Broadcast Choir, Capella Carolina, Capella Coloniënsis in Cologne, and his own ensemble Descant on several tours.
He gives workshops and lectures at home and abroad, principally for Lacock, which has taken him to England, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Tobago; for Oakham International Summer School with Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars; and for Music Camp near High Wycombe – on such subjects as Renaissance & Baroque music, madrigals, Flemish polyphony, Tudor music and choral conducting. He is the initiator of the highly successful annual DESCANT International Choral Conductors’ Course (Amsterdam, since 2002).
Monteconero
The Hotel Monteconero began life in the 14th century as a monastery, latterly occupied by the Camaldolites, an offshoot of the Benedictine order. In the first half of the 20th century, abandoned and ruinous, it was taken over by the Melappioni family and over several decades converted into a comfortable hotel and restaurant with a reputation for the traditional dishes of Le Marche. Its Romanesque church in the central courtyard, spectacular setting in a natural park on a mountain overlooking the Adriatic and distant views of the Apennines have made it a favourite Lacock venue for over two decades.
THE COURSE
The group will be around 32 singers. The plan is to meet at Hotel Monteconero for a 6pm rehearsal on Sunday the 1st of June. Then from Monday to Friday there will be rehearsal sessions each morning and at the end of the afternoon. We have dinner together in the hotel. We will give a final concert in the church at the hotel in the evening of Friday the 6th of June. The course ends after breakfast on Saturday the 7th of June.
HOTEL MONTECONERO
We all stay at the Hotel Monteconero, which gives exceptional value for the degree of comfort on offer. The rate for half board per person per day excluding drinks in a double room is €104 (for the whole course €624, about £516). There is a daily supplement of €24 for single occupancy. A room will be booked for you on registration; you pay the charges direct to the hotel. Ancona is the nearest airport; Ryanair fly there from Stansted, and Lufthansa from Munich, with connecting flights from many other airports. The hotel will send a minibus taxi to meet the Ryanair flight on Sunday the 1st of June and we will arrange the sharing of taxis for other arrivals. The nearest railway station is Ancona.
FEES AND ENROLMENT
The fee for the course is paid in two parts: a deposit of £340 or the equivalent in euros on registration and €350 on or before arrival at Monteconero. 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 a booklet containing all the music, which will be sent to you in advance but not travel; meals and accommodation are paid separately direct to the hotel. The course is for invited singers, but anyone may register an interest by filling in the application form below and pressing ‘send application’.
