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Seven-part English Symphonies
Thomas Tallis ~ Loquebantur, Suscipe quaeso, Missa Puer natus
John Amner ~ Sing O heavens
Thomas Tomkins ~ O sing unto the Lord
William Child ~ Sing we merrily
Robert White ~ Exaudiat te
John Sheppard ~ Libera nos
Patrick Craig writes: “Our programme of seven seven-part English motets (and a mass) takes a look at some of the great works from the confident and brilliant minds of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Seven was always a magical number in both the Bible and in music and these composers seem to have found special inspiration in painting on this larger canvas. The charge is led by perhaps the most intriguing numerological minds of the age, Thomas Tallis (think Spem in alium with its first general pause at bar 40). At the heart of the programme lies his extraordinary Missa Puer natus which may have been written to celebrate Queen Mary’s (phantom) pregnancy. They provide spectacular concert works and I have enjoyed performing many of them regularly in my career with both The Tallis Scholars and The Cardinall’s Musick.”
Patrick Craig is a countertenor and conductor. Since 2012 his regular Lacock courses, combining exploration of 16th and 17th century sacred music with its historical and cultural contexts, have been widely praised. He is a Vicar Choral at St Paul’s Cathedral, a member of The Cardinall’s Musick and sang a thousand concerts around the world with the Tallis Scholars over a period of twenty years. 
He began conducting as organ scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and then spent two years studying singing at the Royal College of Music. He went on to found and direct Aurora Nova, the first all-female professional choir to lead Sunday worship at St Paul’s Cathedral. He led them on their first tour of USA, and also conducted the City of London Sinfonia in a series of orchestral Masses at St Paul’s. Other conducting opportunities followed including guest conducting The Cardinall’s Musick at the Brinkburn, Brighton, Lichfield and Aldeburgh Festivals. He is also the Director of Temenos chamber choir in Sevenoaks, with whom he has conducted Bach’s Magnificat and B minor Mass and Handel’s Dixit Dominus. In 2019 Patrick conducted his first Messiah in the Lichfield Festival, Biber’s 53-part Missa Salisburgensis in Thaxted, and made his conducting debut in Hong Kong.
Monteconero is the perfect singing venue: an isolated hotel on a mountaintop in a regional park, with panoramic views of the sea, the Adriatic coast, the hills of the Marche and the distant peaks of the Appenines.
It began life as an abbey and at its centre still has a fine Romanesque church, where we will rehearse and perform. By the 1950s it had fallen into dereliction and was bought by the Melappioni family, who transformed it into the hotel; it remains a family business and the third generation is now in charge. There are a swimming pool, a tennis court and excellent walking on tracks through the surrounding woods. If you have the energy you can walk down to the beaches at Sirolo; otherwise, the hotel will take you there in its minibus. If you are able to extend your stay, places of interest in the area include Loreto, Urbino, Gubbio and Ascoli Piceno. Away from the seaside resorts, this side of Italy is much less touristy than Tuscany.
Our plan will be to meet in time for a 5pm rehearsal on Sunday the 9th of June. 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 indulgent four-hour lunch break – to rest the voice as much as anything else – and then put in another couple of hours of singing before dinner. We’ll have dinner together every evening – the hotel’s restaurant is excellent and specialises in the food and wines of the Marche. You can also have lunch there – in fact the rate for full board is not much more than half board – but most people find this a little too indulgent and make do with a snack at one of the two cafes at the hotel gates. We’ll give a public performance in the evening of Friday the 14th of June, and leave on Saturday the 15th of June. 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 €92.50 (for the whole course €555, about £478). There is a daily supplement of €22.50 for single occupancy. I’ll reserve a room for you if you decide to come; you pay the charges direct to the hotel. If you want to stay extra days before or after, you can do so at the same rate, which is considerably lower than the one you’ll find pinned up in your room.
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 9th of June and we will arrange the sharing of taxis for other arrivals. The nearest railway station is Ancona.
The cost of the week is a deposit of £320, plus €350 on or before arrival. This fee does not include board and lodging, which is paid directly to the hotel, or travel. This is a week for invited singers, but you may register an interest using the form below.
