York Early Music Festival Brochure 2009

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Welcome Welcome to the 2009 York Early Music Festival – taking the anniversaries of Purcell, Handel and Haydn as our inspiration and moving on to create a Festival programme exploring music from the Medieval to the Baroque, written to celebrate the journey from birth to death.

Virgin and Child with Four Angels ca 1510-15 Gerard David © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1977. (1977.1.1)

The thirty or so events that make up the 2009 Festival offer many musical jewels and we are delighted to welcome guest artists from across the world such as the Italian instrumental ensemble La Risonanza directed by Fabio Bonizzoni; the French ensemble Alla Francesca; Baroque Fever from Denmark; and medievalists Ensemble Peregrina from Basel. Working alongside them are some of the UK’s finest exports including I Fagiolini, Stile Antico, The Sixteen and the Academy of Ancient Music – truly an extravaganza of musicians!

We are also particularly pleased to commend the our educational programme, which includes the world premiere of a piece written for The Tallis Scholars in York Minster on the opening night of the Festival; the Minster Minstrels directed by Ailsa Reid and Susan Hollingworth (director of the winning BBC Choir of the Year competition last autumn); and the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.

We look forward to welcoming you to the wonderful City of York for a host of entertainments and treats.

Delma Tomlin MBE Administrative Director

Artistic Advisers

Dates for your diaries!

John Bryan, Robert Hollingworth, Lindsay Kemp, Peter Seymour

York Early Music Christmas Festival Thurs 3 – Mon 7 December 2009 York Early Music Festival 2010 Fri 9 – Sat 17 July

Thank you!

The York Early Music Festival is grateful to the many individuals and organisations that continue to support its activities – not least the many loyal and supportive audience members!

Design|RedBonsai. 01759 319471 Front Cover Image:

Thanks are particularly due to the Arts Council England, Yorkshire and the National Centre for Early Music. We are also delighted to acknowledge support from the City of York Council; BBC Radio 3; the Friends of the YEMF; the Sylvia and Colin Shepherd Charitable Trust; the Foyle Foundation; Yorkshire Forward; Harrowell Solicitors; Orchestras Live; the Donald and Patricia Shepherd Charitable Trust; the Feoffees of St Michael’s Spurriergate; the University of York; the Dean & Chapter, York; and highlighted members of the York Hoteliers Association – who along with a number of very kind anonymous donors somehow manage to keep us afloat each year.

We are also pleased to thank the Mayfield Valley Arts Trust, Youth Music, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the City of York’s Arts Academy for their support of our education programme.

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Friday 10 July YE MF

EVENT 01

Friends Saver Ticket

7.30pm – c.9.30pm York Minster Reserved seating front nave: £25.00 Reserved seating rear nave: £15.00 (concessions £13.00) Unreserved seating side aisles: £10.00 (students £6.00)

The Tallis Scholars directed by Peter Phillips The Crown of Thorns The relatively minor Feast of the Crown of Thorns - honouring a relic of the Crucifixion - prompted from John Taverner one of the most grandly sonorous English Masses of the Renaissance. The Tallis Scholars place a complete performance of the Mass in context with gems by two other major composers from this glorious period in English church music; William Cornysh and Robert White.

“It is a remarkable achievement that 35 years after its founding The Tallis Scholars should still be a leader in the field of Renaissance polyphony … the group remains the quintessential expression of the English approach to early vocal music, with its emphasis on clarity and exemplary intonation and ensemble.” Melbourne Age www.thetallisscholars.co.uk NCEM

Composers

Award This concert also features the winners of the first NCEM Composers Award organised in association with The Tallis Scholars and BBC Radio 3. www.ncem.co.uk/composersaward By kind permission of the Dean and Chapter, York

Peter Phillips

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Saturday 11 July YE MF

North East Early Music Forum workshop directed by John Butt 10.00am for 10.30am - 4.00 pm St George’s Church, Peel Street

Bach Cantatas & Handel Chandos Anthems John Butt is Gardiner Professor of Music at the University of Glasgow and Musical Director of the Dunedin Consort. In 2006 he was elected Fellow of the British Academy and was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for his work on the Bach Passions.

This practical day will focus on works by Handel in this 250th anniversary year of his death, and Bach cantatas as a precursor to the performance of the St John Passion in the evening.

The repertoire for the workshop will be drawn from Handel’s Chandos Anthems and Bach’s cantatas, so we will need plenty of singers and players!

EVENT 02

Friends Saver Ticket

1.00pm – c2.00pm St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior £15.00 (concessions £13.00)

ensemble Peregrina Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett voice, harp, hurdy-gurdy Kelly Landerkin, Lorenza Donadini voices

Crux: Medieval Music for the Easter season presenting Christian meditations on the meaning of mortal life.

The highest feast of the liturgical year reflected in a sequence of chants, taking us from Maundy Thursday’s anticipation of the events of the crucifixion, to Christ’s martyrdom as witnessed by his distraught mother on Good Friday, and on to the discovery and proclamation of the risen Christ on Easter Sunday.

“One not only feels that the members of Peregrina live and breathe this music, but that they truly enjoy singing it. There is a sense of joyousness in their ravishingly full sound”. Early Music www.peregrina.ch

Participant places must be booked in advance (by 20 June to allow for full provision of music and parts). Visit www.neemf.org.uk for full details and to download application form. All voices and all strings welcome, wind & brass may wish to check suitability before applying for a place. Or email chairman@neemf.org.uk or phone 07979 866303 for further details.

ensemble Peregrina 04

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Saturday 11 July YE MF

EVENT 03

Festival Lecture Series

5.30pm – c.6.30pm Bedern Hall, Bedern £7.50 including a glass of wine on arrival

Bach's St John Passion: theological statement or music drama?

Bach's smaller Passion is frequently analysed for its apparent theological symbolism and meaningful structures, yet it is also one of the most strikingly dramatic pieces Bach ever wrote, verging in places on the violent. John Butt, Chair of Music at Glasgow University, weighs up the two sides of this argument. Can such music truly be appreciated outside the religious context, or does the attention paid to its possible meanings detract from its musical quality?

YE MF

EVENT 04

Friends Saver Ticket

7.30pm – 9.45pm Please note that there is no interval St Michael le Belfrey Church, High Petergate Reserved seating front nave £20.00 Unreserved seating side aisles and balcony £17.00 (concessions £15.00)

Yorkshire Baroque Soloists James Gilchrist Evangelist Stephen Varcoe Christus Matthew Brook Pilate Peter Seymour director

Bach – St John Passion The St John Passion, Bach's first large-scale choral masterpiece, depicts Christ's arrest, trial, crucifixion and burial in almost startlingly dramatic terms, mixing the vivid spectacle of its choral crowd scenes with the tense involvement of the trial and strong personal identification of the arias and chorales. Bach at his most compelling.

“YBS excelled with a performance of untiring elegance … exhilarating” The Press www.yorkshirebachchoir.org.uk Supported by

www.harrowells.co.uk

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Sunday 12 July YE MF

YE MF

EVENT 05

1.00pm – 2.00pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church Admission is free to those attending the Festival but please do book a ticket to avoid disappointment. Limited to two tickets per person.

BBC Radio 3 Early Music Show

EVENT 06

3.30pm – c.4.30pm Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate £5.00 (Friends of the Festival free of charge)

Minster Minstrels directed by Ailsa Reid and Susan Hollingworth Baroque Celebrations!

Join us for a live broadcast of this popular Early Music Show presented by Catherine Bott with guests including Fabio Bonizzoni, Emanuela Galli, The Clerks and Baroque Fever.

Supported by Royal York Hotel www.royalhotelyork.co.uk

The Minster Minstrels, York’s early music ensemble for young people aged 10 – 18, present a concert of instrumental music and song in celebration of Purcell and Handel. The performance will include extracts from Handel’s Fireworks and Water Music, Purcell’s theatre music, and works by contemporary composers and friends. www.ncem.co.uk/minsterminstrels The Minster Minstrels is run as a partnership between the NCEM and City of York Council’s York Arts Academy with support from the Mayfield Valley Arts Trust.

Catherine Bott

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If you are interested in joining this dynamic young ensemble – and taking part in the Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in November – please contact us for further information by e mailing ailsa.reid@ncem.co.uk

Sunday 12 July YE MF

EVENT 07

Friends Saver Ticket

YE MF

EVENT 08

Friends Saver Ticket

7.00pm – c.9.00pm Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York Reserved seating £20.00 (concessions £17.00)

10.00pm – 11.00pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £15.00 (concessions £13.00)

La Risonanza

The Clerks

directed by Fabio Bonizzoni with Emanuela Galli soprano

directed by Edward Wickham

Handel and his Italian Contemporaries Stradella

Sistite sidera

Cailò

Sonata a tre violini

Handel

Tu fedel, tu costanti?

Porpora

Or sì m’avveggio, oh Amor

Corelli

Ciaccona

Handel

Armida abbandonata:

The short period Handel spent in Italy in his early 20s was one of the most explosively creative of his entire life. This award-winning Italian ensemble performs two of the brilliant secular cantatas he composed in Rome alongside works by some of the Italian contemporaries he might have heard there. “the playing of La Risonanza is unfailingly stylish” The Sunday Times

IN MEMORIA: Songs of Remembrance Josquin

Absolve quaesumus

Josquin

Lament on the death of Johannes Ockeghem

Dufay

Ave regina coelorum

Josquin

Pater noster/Ave maria

Antony Pitts Thou wast present Chant from the Mass of the Dead

www.larisonanza.it An unforgettable soundscape of words and music – integrating the voices of The Clerks with a special audio collage reflecting the theme of loss and commemoration. At once contemplative and celebratory, this programme will break new ground in the presentation of ‘early music’.

Emanuela Galli Organised in association with the

“freewheeling, precious, touching, aggravating and riveting. Renaissance motets and modern compositions alternate with liturgical readings, children's voices and a man's heartbreaking account of his wife's tragic death. Frequently beautiful, cumulatively moving and fascinating” Financial Times www.theclerks.co.uk

Supported by Dean Court Hotel www.deancourt-york.co.uk

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Monday 13 July YE MF

YE MF

EVENT 09

10.30am – c.12 noon NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £7.50 including coffee on arrival

A Masterclass In Schubert Richard Jackson was a founder member of The Songmaker's Almanac, a contributor to the Hyperion complete Schubert song recording project, and teaches song at conservatories and masterclasses around the UK. In this class, complementing today’s performance of Schubert’s Die Winterreise, he works with students from the region’s universities on German repertoire to texts associated with life and death.

1.00pm – c.2.00pm Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate £10.00 (concessions £8.00)

Baroque Fever Bjarte Eike, Peter Spissky violins Thomas Pitt cello Allan Rasmussen harpsichord

The Birth of the Trio Sonata The trio sonata was the dominant chamber genre of the baroque era – the string quartet of its age.

Its origins in the growing instrumental virtuosity and dramatic flair of early 17th-century Italy, and its later successful but recognisably personal adoption by Purcell, are explored by this brilliant Danish ensemble.

Supported by The Grange Hotel www.grangehotel.co.uk

The NCEM sends out regular e newsletters about its activities throughout the country including early bird news on the York, Beverley and Christmas Early Music Festivals.

If you would like to receive information and be kept informed of special offers, please send your name and email address to boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

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Friends Saver Ticket

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Stay in tune & in touch!

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EVENT 10

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Monday 13 July YE MF

EVENT 11

Friends Saver Ticket

YE MF

EVENT 12

Concert By Candlelight Friends Saver Ticket

7.30pm – c.9.00pm Chapter House, York Minster £20.00 (concessions £17.00)

10.00pm – 11.10pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £15.00 (concessions £13.00)

Stile Antico

Matthew Brook bass Peter Seymour fortepiano

Retire My Soul: Swansongs and memorials by the Renaissance masters.

An exploration of the responses of great composers to the realisation of their own mortality, and that of their patrons and friends.

From the final published works of Lassus, Gombert, Schütz and Byrd, to the extraordinary motet Dufay designed to be performed at his own deathbed, and also including works by Josquin, Lobo and Sheppard, these works form a unique and insightful group.

“Their clear, fresh tone, purposeful rhythmic energy and minutely sensitive response to the words are displayed to perfection” Daily Telegraph

Schubert Die Winterreise Schubert’s most substantial song-cycle Die Winterreise charts the bleak journey of a rejected lover, wandering the winter landscape, weighed down by memories of his lost sweetheart, and longing for death. Almost an operatic monologue in miniature, its profound atmosphere and searching psychological expression make it one of the artistic highpoints of the 19th century.

"Matthew Brooks .. a clear and agile voice" New York Times Supported by The Hilton Hotel www.hilton.co.uk/york

www.stileantico.co.uk

Stile Antico

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Tuesday 14 July YE MF

EVENT 13

Festival Lecture Series

YE MF

EVENT 14

10.30am – c.11.30am Bedern Hall, Bedern £7.50 including coffee on arrival

1.00pm – c.2.00pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £10.00 (concessions £8.00, students £5.00)

Flights of Fancy

University of York Baroque Ensemble

John Bryan, Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield, explores some of the ways in which the apparently freely-flowing polyphony of the Renaissance was frequently underpinned by complex architectural processes, and discusses the implications for how best to listen to these masterpieces of compositional subtlety today. Robert Hollingworth continues this theme in his ‘Tallis in Wonderland’ programme - see events 15 & 21.

Compagnia d’Istrumenti

Supported by Lady Anne Middleton’s Hotel

Dances of Birth and Death

with

Ailsa Reid recorders Daniel Edgar, Nia Lewis violins Tim Smedley cello Peter Seymour harpsichord

www.ladyannes.co.uk Jean-Féry Rebel’s suite Les Elemens is a musical representation of the birth of the world, from the opening depicting Chaos in dramatic dissonances to the refined elegance of the dance movements that follow.

Works commemorating a death are also well represented in French Baroque music; Couperin’s Apothéose, included in this programme, pays homage to the father of French music, Lully. www.compagniadistrumenti.co.uk

Compagnia d’Istrumenti 10

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Tuesday 14 July

YE MF

EVENT 15

Friends Saver Ticket

7.00pm – c.8.15pm NCEM, St Margarets Church Please note there is no interval £15.00 (concessions £13.00)

Rose Consort of Viols Ibi Aziz, John Bryan, Alison Crum, Roy Marks, Peter Wendland viols

Alpha and Omega: the origins and culmination of English consort music The incomparable fantazias by Henry Purcell stand at the end of a remarkably rich line of English consort music. Here a selection of Purcell’s pieces in 3, 4 and 5 parts is contrasted with music by his Tudor precursors Lloyd, Baldwyn, Parsley and Byrd, mostly using intriguing and cunning compositional devices. ”the Rose Consort plays in a sublimely unfussy, unfettered manner worthy of the music” Gramophone www.roseconsort.co.uk Supported by Middlethorpe Hall Hotel and Spa www.middlethorpe.com

Friends Supper Party Tuesday 14 July | 9.00pm Bedern Hall | Friends £10.00 Guests £20.00 The Friends are dedicated to supporting the summer festival. Membership brings many benefits including advance bookings, discounted tickets, reserved seating (wherever possible) and of course, the annual Friends’ supper! To join the Friends, please contact the administrator Jillian Johnson, at boxoffice@ncem.co.uk or ring 01904 658338.

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Chapter House,York Minster

Wednesday 15 July

YE MF

EVENT 16

Festival Lecture Series

1.00pm – c.2.00pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £7.50 including a glass of wine on arrival

A Dance to the Music of Time: Songs of Mortality and the Age of Plague An illustrated lecture by Felipe Fernández-Armesto The Black Death is an epidemiological mystery.

Felipe suggests new solutions, while setting 14th century musical responses to death in startling long-term contexts: the environmental crisis and lurches of global climate that inaugurated and sustained an “age of plague” in Eurasia, and the consequences for the global balance of power and wealth.

Supported by the Holiday Inn www.holiday-inn.co.uk

YE MF

EVENT 17

Friends Saver Ticket

8.00pm – 9.15pm Please note there is no interval Chapter House, York Minster £20.00 (concessions £17.00)

Alla Francesca Hélène Decarpignies voice Brigitte Lesne voice, harp, percussion Emmanuel Vistorky voice Marco Horvat voice, lute Vivabiancaluna Biffi fiddle Pierre Hamon recorders, flute, bagpipes

Music for the Black Death ‘How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, breakfast with their kinsfolk and the same night sup with their ancestors in the next world!’

(Boccaccio). The Black Death swept across Europe in the mid 1300s, killing an estimated half of the population. Poets and musicians responded violently: blaming the Jews, lamenting their own fates, or ignoring their awful fate by revelling in love, lust and gluttony. Tonight’s programme reflects these varied responses through Hebrew chants, penitential Minnesinger prayers and Machaut’s sublime love songs.

“Alla Francesca is a real class act” The Herald http://assoc.orange.fr/cmmp Alla Francesca is supported by the French government - Ministry of Culture

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Wednesday 15 July YE MF

EVENT 18

Friends Saver Ticket

Concert By Candlelight

10.00pm – c.11.00pm All Saints Church, North Street £15.00 (concessions £13.00)

Rose Consort of Viols with Evelyn Tubb soprano Tallis is Dead, and Music Dies

William Byrd commemorated several of his friends, patrons and other personalities at the Elizabethan court in heartfelt elegies for solo voice with the plangent accompaniment of viols. Consort music by Tallis and dances by Holborne provide a backdrop for Byrd’s elegies for Lady Magdalene Montague, Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Philip Sidney and his Chapel Royal colleague Tallis.

“Evelyn Tubb is a singing actress with a graceful presence, alert eyes, distinct and communicative words, pure pitch, a timbre that could swell and sparkle without losing steadiness, definite notes and fluent divisions, bold graces and adornments that rang out freely.”

Opera Magazine Supported by Monk Bar Hotel www.monkbarhotel.co.uk

Evelyn Tubb

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Thursday 16 July

Young Competition YE MF

The Festival is delighted to present this prestigious competition welcoming ensembles from across Europe and America. Competitors are invited to York several days prior to the competition – to be held on Saturday 18 July – in order to settle in, make friends and present an informal concert to the Festival audiences, colleagues and friends – in the informed company of soprano Evelyn Tubb.

EVENT 19

Friends Saver Ticket

YE MF

EVENT 20

Friends Saver Ticket

10.30am – c.12.30pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £7.00 (students £5.00) including coffee on arrival

2.30pm – c.4.00pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £7.00 (students £5.00) including coffee on arrival

Ensemble Meridiana from Switzerland

Le Tic Toc Choc from France

Cecilie Valtrova violin Karel Valter baroque flute Dominique Tinguely recorder, bassoon Tore Eketorp viola da gamba Chrstian Kjos harpsichord

Jesenka Balic Zunic violin Lucile Bouglanger viola da gamba Paolo Zanzu harpsichord

The Art of the Portrait In French Music

Italian Flair, French Feeling A cross-cultural exchange in music for winds and strings by Vivaldi, Boismortier, Dornel and Corrette.

An invitation to view that characteristic French baroque genre, the musical portrait, presenting Forqueray as seen by Dornel, and Rameau’s depictions of Forqueray, Marais and Cupis. .

Purcelli Abubu from Austria

MetroMarina from Belgium

Georg Fritz, Julia Fritz, Lydia Graber, Philipp Wagner recorders

Christine Mothes voice David Catalunya clavisimbalum Anna Danilsevskaia fiddle Atushi Moriya, Tom Beets recorders

Just Fo(U)R Pipes

Image: Holbein, The Ambassadors (detail) c The National Gallery, London

Majestic organ works by Ciconia, Sweelinck, Scheidt and Bach find their way on to a quartet of recorders .

Grand Désir from Switzerland Anne-Marieke Evers voice Anita Orme recorder, harp Tobie Miller recorder, hurdy-gurdy

Her Lady’s Devotion Sacred music for voice and instruments reflecting the special female devotional world of the nunneries of 15th-century Holland and Germany.

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Ars Amandi: The Delight of Love Complex and virtuosic but fluid and subtle: late medieval music from France for voice and instruments by Senleches and others, talking the language of love.

Thursday 16 July YE MF

EVENT 21

Friends Saver Ticket

8.00pm – c.9.15pm Please note there is no interval Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York Reserved seating £20.00 (concessions £17.00, students £5.00)

I Fagiolini with Artery Emma Tring soprano Clare Wilkinson mezzo-soprano Nicholas Hurndall Smith tenor Eamonn Dougan baritone Chris Adams bass Robert Hollingworth counter-tenor, Music Director Henk Schut Director/Installation

Tallis In Wonderland The difficulty with listening to Renaissance polyphony is in hearing anything more than a beautiful wash of sound from one end of a building. The processes of the intricately interdependent lines and their emotional impact are usually lost. Does it matter? Wasn’t church music composed to glorify God rather than to be understood? Tallis in Wonderland is a new piece inspired by this problem and features six live singers, sound installation and music by Tallis, Josquin, Gombert, Manchicourt, Byrd, Rore, Palestrina, Gesualdo and Monteverdi.

This project has been developed with the generous support of Aldeburgh Residencies, The Foyle Foundation, Leche Trust and I Fagiolini Charitable Trust.

The sheer wit and charm of I Fagiolini’s singing and acting tend to obscure the high musical standards involved in everything they do. The Guardian www.ifagiolini.com Organised in association with Supported by Pavillion Hotel

www.yorkpavilionhotel.com

Photo: Eric Richmond

Festival Lecture Series Tickets Book tickets for all four lectures (comprising events 3,13,16 and 23) and only pay for three.

See booking information on page 22 for details.

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Friday 17 July

Young

YE MF

EVENT 22

Friends Saver Ticket

10.30am - c.12 noon NCEM St Margaret’s Church £7.00 (Students £5.00) including coffee on arrival

Concitato Ensemble from the USA Joan Plana violin Anna Sampson cello Jason J Moy harpsichord, organ

The Violin-Meisters Sonatas by two extrovert violinist-composers from 17th-century Germany and Austria: Johann Paul von Westhoff and Johann Schmelzer.

The Marian Consort from the UK Gwendolen Martin, Laura Ashby sopranos Rory McCleery counter-tenor Oliver Winstone tenor Steffan Jones baritone Christopher Borrett bass

Siglo De Oro Noble vocal polyphony from Spain’s Century of Gold, including motets and mass movements by Guerrero, Morales, Navarro, Lobo and Ceballos.

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Festival Lecture Series

6.00pm – c.6.40pm Bedern Hall, Bedern £7.50 including a glass of wine on arrival

Competition YE MF

EVENT 23

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Henry Purcell: "A Greater Musical Genius England Never Had" Jonathan Wainwright, Head of Music at the University of York, seeks to place the music of Henry Purcell in the wider context of the English 17th-century. A number of issues – historical and cultural – will be examined in assessing the English musical tradition which gave birth to Purcell’s unique creative force.

Supported by The Queen’s Hotel www.queenshotel-york.com

Friday 17 July YE MF

EVENT 24

Friends Saver Ticket

7.30pm – c.9.30pm York Minster Reserved seating front nave: £25.00 Reserved seating rear nave: £15.00 (concessions £13.00) Unreserved seating side aisles: £10.00 (young people/students £6.00)

The Sixteen directed by Harry Christophers Choral Pilgrimage 2009: Purcell & Macmillan Bright Orb of Harmony

The Sixteen returns to the Minster to celebrate two anniversaries and bring together leading British sacred composers of different eras. Purcell's 350th birthday is marked by some of his most ravishingly expressive anthems, while James MacMillan's 50th is observed with a group of typically heartfelt motets, including the rich O bone Jesu, inspired by a 16th-century setting by Robert Carver.

Purcell

Jehova quam multi sunt hostes mei Miserere mei Remember not, Lord, our offences Beati omnes qui timent Dominum

Macmillan

O Bone Iesu

Purcell

Let mine eyes run down with tears

Macmillan

Mitte manum tuam (from The Strathclyde Motets) A Child's Prayer Sedebit Dominus Rex (from The Strathclyde Motets)

Purcell

O Dive custos Funeral sentences (1st set)

“A tiny soundbite of heaven” The Times Promoted in association with The Sixteen | www.thesixteen.com As in previous years, the performance will be signed by Music and the Deaf – offering those who are hard of hearing a rare opportunity to enjoy this extraordinary occasion. If you would like to know more, please contact boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

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Saturday 18 July

Young Competition

The York Early Music International Young Artists Competition will be presented by Evelyn Tubb and judged by BBC presenter and singer Catherine Bott; Herman Baeten, Musica (Belgium); John Bryan, University of Huddersfield; Catherine Hockling, Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham; and Philip Hobbs, Linn Records.

The winners of the 2009 Competition will be announced at 4.30pm and will receive a cheque for £1,000 as well as a series of concerts organised by the National Centre for Early Music and opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and Linn Records. In addition, the Friends of the York Early Music Festival will be presenting the audience prize to those judged to have offered a performance which ‘most appeals’. To join the Friends contact Jillian Johnson at boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

YE MF

EVENT 25

Friends Saver Ticket

10.00am – c.4.00pm NCEM, St Margaret’s Church £20.00 (concessions £10.00) including coffee on arrival 10.15 am

11.45am

Le Tic Toc Choc from France

Concitato Ensemble from the USA

Jesenka Balic Zunic violin Lucile Bouglanger viola da gamba Paolo Zanzu harpsichord

Joan Plana violin Anna Sampson cello Jason J Moy harpsichord, organ

Stylus Phantasticus

‘A La Moda’ Dans La France Chamber music from 18th-century France with a hint of Italian fire, including works by Travenol, Rebel and Mascitti.

Works from the free-flying early days of the violin, including virtuoso sonatas by Castello, Cima, and Fontana.

12.15pm

Purcelli Abubu from Austria

10.45am

The Marian Consort from the UK Gwendolen Martin, Laura Ashby sopranos Rory McCleery counter-tenor Oliver Winstone tenor Steffan Jones baritone Christopher Borrett bass

Life, Death & Sheep: Music From The Royal Library of Philip II Music for voices from the library of King Philip II of Spain, bringing together works with a pastoral connection by Guerrero, Rogier, Mouton, Palestrina and Manchicourt.

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Georg Fritz, Julia Fritz, Lydia Graber, Philipp Wagner recorders

Cantus Infinitatis Music for recorder consort with vocal melodies and variations by Byrd, Sweelinck and others at its heart.

Saturday 18 July YE MF

2.00pm

Ensemble Meridiana from Switzerland Cecilie Valtrova violin Karel Valter baroque flute Dominique Tinguely recorder, bassoon Tore Eketorp viola da gamba Chrstian Kjos harpsichord

Lipsian Connections Three fine musicians, one job. Music for winds and strings by Fasch, Telemann and Bach, all contenders for the job of Leipzig’s Thomaskantor in 1722.

EVENT 26

Friends Saver Ticket

8.00pm – c.10.00pm St Michael le Belfrey Church, High Petergate Reserved seating front nave £20.00 Unreserved seating side aisles and balcony £17.00 (concessions £15.00)

Academy of Ancient Music directed by Pavlo Beznosiuk A Day in the Life of Haydn

2.30pm

Grand Désir from Switzerland Anne-Marieke Evers voice Anita Orme recorder, harp Tobie Miller recorder, hurdy-gurdy

England 1300-1500 Voices and instruments search for the elusive English medieval style in music to vernacular texts.

3.00pm

MetroMarina from Belgium Christine Mothes voice David Catalunya clavisimbalum Anna Danilsevskaia fiddle Atushi Moriya, Tom Beets recorders

Haydn died 200 years ago this year, but here we celebrate a day in his long and fruitful life with his own witty and delightful symphonic takes on the passing hours, and a typically polished violin concerto, all dating from the early time of his employment by the Esterházy princes.

Dulcis Melancholia Secular music for voice and instruments from the medieval Chantilly manuscript by Solage and others, reflecting melancholy and the pains of love.

Supported by the Park Inn www.york.parkinn.co.uk

Haydn Haydn Haydn Haydn

Symphony No.6 (Le Matin) Symphony No.7 (Le Midi) Violin Concerto in C major Symphony No.8 (Le Soir)

“The AAM is on glorious form: the strings have a bite, precision and vibrancy any orchestra would envy” International Record Review www.aam.co.uk Supported by

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Early Music at the NCEM Tuesday 7 – Friday 10 July

The National Early Music Association, working in association with the University of York and the York Early Music Festival presents:

Singing Music from 1500 to 1900 If you are passionate about singing, you won’t want to miss NEMA’s international conference, to be held at the University of York. Speakers will discuss (and illustrate) vocal science, genres, technique, history and performance practice, with several presentations on the controversial topic of vibrato.

Live music and participatory workshops will be directed by Philip Thorby, Dominique Visse, Graham Coatman, Sally Drage and Graham O’Reilly with Hugh Keyte.

If you want to attend the conference, either selectively or for all 3½ days, you can register online at http://www.yorkconferences.com/ or alternatively contact richardbethell@btinternet.com for further information.

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Box Office 01904 658338

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Happy Birthday Mr Purcell To mark the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell’s birth, the NCEM is working with The Sixteen, the Choir Schools’ Association and Sing Up to encourage primary-aged children across England to celebrate this remarkable composer. Highlights will include performances in Lichfield, St Edmundsbury and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedrals and Southwell Minster.

The young people of the City of York are especially privileged to be invited to take part in the Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 9th November. Premiering a new piece

by Richard Shephard – based around the music of Purcell – over 500 youngsters from schools across the City will be taking part under the skillful direction of Susan Hollingworth.

Details of these activities – and the accompanying educational resources written for Key Stage 2 trainers – are available free on-line from www.ncem.co.uk

Early Music at the NCEM The NCEM promotes a wide variety of concerts each season, highlights include: Thursday 7 May

Thursday 25 June

The Orlando Consort The York Waits with Kuljit Bhamra tabla, Indian Jonathan Mayer sitar, sarod Shahid Khan voice

with Tim Healey narrator

Mantra: Musical Conversations across the Indian Ocean

Thursday 3 - Monday 7 December

harmonium

Thursday 21 - Saturday 23 May

Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival withRed Priest Fretwork Jacob Heringman The Bach Players

The King’s Pavan

York Early Music Christmas Festival with La Serenissima Concordia Dufay Collective Joglaresa Christmas Festival booking opens 1 September Tickets and further information will be available on-line at www.ncem.co.uk from 1 September.

Jonathan Mayer: Mantra

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Booking Information Booking opens on Monday 30 March to Friends of the Festival and on Monday 6 April to the general public Box Office: The National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York YO1 9TL To book by telephone: Please ring 01904 658338 On-Line: Visit our web site at www.ncem.co.uk and use the secure on-line booking service.

By post: Write to the NCEM Box Office, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate,YorkYO1 9TL enclosing an SAE. Cheques should be made payable to the National Centre for Early Music.

Alternatively, please authorise us to debit your Master/Visa/Delta/Maestro card. The surcharge is £1 to include postage charges.

In person: The box office is open Monday – Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm.

Reservations: All tickets are unreserved except for top-price seats in York Minster, St Michael le Belfrey Church and at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall. Tickets must be paid for within three working days of reservation and at least 24 hours prior to the performance. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the venue 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Doors open 40 minutes before the concert, where possible.

Concession prices: These are shown in brackets.

They apply to senior citizens and registered disabled and their carers. Students and young people’s tickets are shown as applicable.

Student Standby Tickets: These will be available from 30 minutes prior to the performance, subject to availability, for Events 4 and 7 at a price of £5.00.

Friends of the Festival: The Friends enjoy additional discounts, priority booking, reserved tickets (wherever practicable) and good company.

Please ring 01904 658338 for details or e mail boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

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Friends of the Festival Saver Ticket: This applies to Events 1,2,4,7,8,10,11,12,15, 17,18, 19,20,21,22,24,25 and 26. Friends of the Festival are welcome to buy tickets for these 18 concerts subject to availability and save money with a reduced cost of £260.00 (concessions £230.00). All 18 concerts must be booked at the same time to take advantage of this offer. This includes reserved seats for events 1,4,24 & 26.

Refunds: We regret that refunds can only be given if the concert is sold out and we are able to sell on the ticket. Please note that there will be a 10% administration charge.

General enquiries: Please ring 01904 632220 for general information.

Party bookings: Special savings can be made for those bringing a party of 11 or more, in which case we offer an additional seat free.

Festival Lecture Series: This applies to Events 3,13,16 and 23 at a cost of £22.50 (no concessions). This is available to everyone, offering four lectures for the price of three. All four lectures must be booked at the same time to take advantage of this offer.

Accessible facilities: The Festival offers a warm welcome to everyone. The NCEM website www.ncem.co.uk is accessible to the partially sighted and the NCEM has the benefit of an RNIB Braille map of York available on request from the box office. The York Blind and Partially Sighted Society has installed a number of ‘talking signs’ around the City giving information on directions to buildings, public loos etc. Assistance Dogs are welcome at concerts. For detailed information, please ring 01904 632220.

The NCEM is a Typetalk Approved business.

Visitor Information The York Visitor Information Centre offers help with accommodation and general information about the City. Ring 01904 550099 or e mail info@visityork.org

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6 Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate

2 Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate

7 All Saints’ Church, North Street

3 Bedern Hall, Bedern

8 St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior

4 York Minster & Chapter House

9 St George’s Church, Peel Street

5 St Michael le Belfrey Church, High Petergate

10 To the University of York (Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall)

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1 0 - 1 8 J U LY 2 0 0 9 An exploration of the universal themes of life and death

Festival Highlights Friday 10 July

Tuesday 14 July

7.30pm York Minster

7.00pm NCEM

The Tallis Scholars

Rose Consort of Viols

Saturday 11 July

Wednesday 15 July

7.30pm St Michael le Belfrey Church

8.00pm Chapter House, York Minster

Yorkshire Baroque Soloists

Alla Francesca

Sunday 12 July

Thursday 16 July

7.00pm Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York

7.30pm Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York

La Risonanza

I Fagiolini

Monday 13 July 7.30pm Chapter House, York Minster

Friday 17 July

Stile Antico

7.30pm York Minster

The Sixteen Saturday 18 July 8.00pm St Michael le Belfrey Church

Academy of Ancient Music The York Early Music Festival is administered by the National Centre for Early Music through the York Early Music Foundation registered charity number 1068331.

All details are correct at the time of going to the press but YEMF reserves the right to amend the published programme if necessary.

Box Office 01904 658338

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