Guillaume Du Fay ~ Nuper rosarum flores
Philippe Verdelot ~ Sint dicte grates Christo, Inviolata
Francesco Corteccia ~ Ingredere, Surge illuminare
Marco da Gagliano ~ Lumen ad revelationem gentium
Alessandro Striggio ~ Tristis est anima mea
The wealth and prestige of renaissance Florence have given the city an honourable place in the history of music. Its main contributions have been in the field of secular music: it was, after all, the birthplace of the madrigal and of opera. This course explores the sacred music of some of the musicians drawn to the city. Guillaume Du Fay was the most admired composer of his day and wrote the complex motet Nuper rosarum flores for the consecration of Brunelleschi’s dome for Florence Cathedral. The work has come to be treated as an icon in the history of Western music. The Frenchman Philippe Verdelot spent most of his life in Italy and is considered the father of the madrigal. His Inviolata is a reworking of the famous setting of the same text by Josquin des Prez. Francesco Corteccia was the most prominent musician in Florence for several decades during the reign of Cosimo I de’ Medici. Alessandro Striggio is the composer of the forty-part Ecce beatam lucem; his son, also called Alessandro, was the librettist of Monteverdi’s Orfeo.
Rory Wainwright Johnston is a conductor and composer from Bradford-on-Avon, near Bath and has been a Lacock director since 2022. His musical education was fostered at Bath Abbey as head chorister and then tenor under the direction of Peter King.
He read music at the University of Manchester, specialising in conducting and composition. During this time he studied piano with Richard Casey, and conducting with Mark Heron (RNCM) and Justin Doyle (RIAS Kammerchor). He continued his compositional studies in Manchester with Camden Reeves and Nina Whiteman. Rory then studied conducting with Justin Doyle at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin.
Rory is currently the assistant conductor of the Groot Omroepkoor (Netherlands Radio Choir), as well as the consortium vocal berlin; he works as a regular deputy conductor for choirs in Berlin, such as the Philharmonischer Chor Berlin, Berliner Vokalkreis. Since 2022, Rory has developed a professional relationship with RIAS Kammerchor, working as a deputy and assistant conductor for Justin Doyle, including on their last two New Year Concerts in the Berlin Philharmonie and their subsequent recordings (2022 – Handel, Judas Maccabeaus; 2023 – Bach, Magnificat in Eflat).
As a composer, his music has been performed and broadcast by a variety of ensembles and artists from across the UK and Germany, including RIAS Kammerchor, ORA Singers, BCMG, Kantos Chamber Choir, Huddersfield Choral Society, ATLAS Vokalensemble and echo.
Rory is passionate about composition education and to that end has led the ‘Young Composers Apprentice Scheme’ run by ORA Singers across the UK as part of their Young Composer Competition, in which 40 students receive eight sessions of lessons, information, and feedback about choral music, its history and how to write it.
For practicalities, fees and enrolment, click the tab at the top of this page.
The course
This course will be Lacock’s first visit to Florence since 2008. Our aim is to convene a balanced group of around 36 singers.
Participants should have straight, blending voices with full dynamic range and be able to response quickly to direction. We will meet in the evening of Sunday the 19th of October for an opening rehearsal session. Then from Monday to Friday there will be sesions from 9.30am to 1pm and from 5pm to 7pm. On Friday the 24th of October we will give a public performance in the church, followed by a group dinner, which will mark the end of the course. Meals are not included in the fee for the course. All the music will be sent to you before the course, either printed in a booklet or as a pdf for you to read on a tablet.
Travel and accommodation
Florence is well connected on the admirable Italian rail network. The best way of finding out about the ins and outs of international rail tickets is the Man in Seat 61. The city has its own airport. British Airways fly there from Gatwick and London City airports.
Participants in the course are asked to find their own accommodation. Florence is one of Europe’s most visited cities and there is no shortage of possibilities that can be found through the usual channels, especially in October. Our course venue, The English Church of St Mark is in Via Maggio, just south of the Ponte Santa Trinita, between Piazza de’ Frescobaldi and Piazza San Felice.
Fees and enrolment
The fee for the course is paid in two parts: a deposit of £360 (or the equivalent in euros) on registration and €350 on or before arrival in Florence. 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, but not meals, travel or accommodation. To apply for a place on this course, just fill in the application form below and press the ‘send application’ button.
