Tenby Music Party

1623: Byrd’s flock
William Byrd ~ Praise our Lord, Sing we merrily unto God,
This Day Christ was born, Infelix ego
Orlando Gibbons ~ O Lord in thy wrath, Lift up your heads
Thomas Tomkins ~ Turn unto the Lord, Woe is me
Thomas Weelkes ~ O how amiable are thy dwellings,
O Lord, arise unto thy resting-place

Patrick Craig writes: “1623 was a momentous year for English choral music.  Two of the great composers of this era died in that year – Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd. Several of the flock of younger talent gathered by Byrd through recruitment for the Chapel Royal published important works in that year and this course will look at the plethora of talent that was working in England as Byrd finally left the stage in his eighties. Thomas Tomkins shone brightly among this talent and was born in St David’s – the mother city of the diocese which Tenby occupies. I have recorded much of Byrd’s music with The Cardinall’s Musick and will be delighted to direct this Lacock course and focus on his legacy in his anniversary year.”

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.

Tenby
Tenby, a harbour town in Pembrokeshire is one of Wales’s lesser-known delights, with its 13^th century town walls, picturesque houses, jumble of streets and several sandy beaches. The ruins of Tenby Castle are on a headland overlooking the harbour. Exhibits at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery include the Tenby Gun, a nine-foot-long breech-loading Tudor cannon. The Tudor Merchant’s House recreates domestic life in 1500,

with a merchant’s shop and working kitchen. There are excellent coastal walks right on the doorstep, including the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
The course will be held in the town’s magnificent Grade I church, St Mary’s, which is in the centre of the town. Most of the building dates from the 15^th century with some features from the 13^th. The 13^th century chancel has a wagon roof and the panelled ceiling has 75 bosses carved in a variety of designs including foliage, grotesques, fish, a mermaid and a green man, as well as the figure of Jesus surrounded by the four Apostles. The tower also dates from the 13^th century. Two chapels, the spire, the font and a bell cast with the name ‘Sancta Anna’ all date from the 15^th century.

The course
Our plan will be to meet for a 5pm session on Sunday the 16^th of April. 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 last evening (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 21^st of April.

Travel and accommodation
Tenby has a railway station on the Pembroke Dock branch of the West Wales Line operated by Transport for Wales Rail. The nearest airport is Cardiff. The M4 motorway and its continuation the A40 come within half an hour of the town. Tenby caters for a large number of summer visitors, so in April you can expect hotel and b&b accommodation will be easy to find.

Fees and enrolment
The fee for the course is £595, paid in two parts: a deposit of £255 (or the equivalent in euros) on registration and £340 by the end of March. 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 the music booklet, which will be sent to you in advance, but not meals, travel or accommodation. The Tenby Music Party is a course for invited singers, but if you have not received an invitation you may register an interest using the form below.