WINDY BARN MUSIC FROM WILLARDS BARN This series is made up of three films which you can buy as a package, or as individual films.
THE OBOE BAND IN GERMANY Krieger Lustige Feldmusik Overture Grave Overture Presto Overture Largo Marche Menuet Air Fantasie Menuet Chaconne
THE OBOE BAND IN FRANCE Lully Le bourgeois gentilhomme Ouverture Air - Sarabande - Bouree - Gaillarde - Canarie Deuxieme air (end of act 2) Minuet pour les hautbois en Poitevins Deuxieme air Troisieme air Marche pour la ceremonie des Turcs
THE OBOE BAND IN ENGLAND Croft music for Steele’s play ‘The funeral' or 'Grief-a-la-mode’ Overture Scotch Air Jig Slow Air Air Chaconne
Oboe Katharina Spreckelsen Daniel Bates Leo Duarte Sarah Humphrys Geoffrey Coates Richard Earle Bassoon Philip Turbett Sally Jackson Contrabassoon David Chatterton Percussion Adrian Bending
We are grateful for the support of Jenny and Tim Morrison and Imogen and Haakon Overli
PROGRAMME NOTES by Richard Bratby
THE OBOE BAND IN GERMANY Johann Philipp Krieger (1651 - 1735) Lustige Feldmusik, "to be played while marching at the front of companies of soldiers, or else while serving their officers" The wind band emerged out of the Renaissance tradition of instruments from the same family being played together in consort. There were many reasons for its popularity, but one was that it sounded gentler when played outdoors than indoors and that the sound produced carried surprisingly far. Not everyone was a fan. The German composer and theorist Johann Mattheson (1681-1784), who was a good friend of Haydn, wrote "if however, the hautbois (french term for oboe) is not played in the most delicate way as for instance in the field or the drinking party where it is not always taken to punctiliously then I would rather hear a good Jews harp or musical comb instead and would, I think, be better entertained?". During the 17th and 18th centuries, the lowest-paid oboe bands played in the military and were not known for being talented musicians. Bruce Haynes (1942-2011), the great North American oboist and musicologist said "with few exceptions, wind bands are made up of players of the least accomplishments, either beginners or failures".
THE OBOE BAND IN FRANCE Jean-Baptiste Lully 1632-1687) Le bourgeois gentilhomme, or 'The Bourgeois Gentleman' is a play written by Jean-Baptiste Molière, with music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, completed in 1670. It was the last of eleven plays that the pair created together. The comic central character of Le bourgeois gentilhomme is Monsieur Jourdain, a middle-class man blinded by the folly of social climbing. In the overture we hear a refined, sensible marching pace, and underneath it we hear the sound of Monsieur Jourdain's giddy aspirations. He would be a fool for all seasons were it not for the unmistakable thread of common sense that’s in there somewhere. It is possible that Lully empathised with Monsieur Jourdain as there are some elements of the character's tale that are reminiscent of his own climb up the social ladder. Lully was born in Florence to a family of millers. Aged 14, he caught the attention of the son of the Duke of Guise by playing the violin dressed as a Harlequin during a Mardi Gras celebration. Guise took the boy to Paris, where he served as a chamber boy for nobility. The teenager's talents as a guitarist, violinist, and dancer made him popular and he soon found himself dancing with the young Louis XIV, in the Ballet royal de la nuit. By March 16, 1653, Lully had been made royal composer for instrumental music.
THE OBOE BAND IN ENGLAND William Croft (1678 -1727) ‘The funeral or Grief-a-la-mode’ is a comedy play published by the Irish writer and politician Richard Steele in 1710, with music composed by William Croft. Between pieces of Croft's cheery music you will hear our ever-enthusiastic musicians of the OAE summarise the plot of the play, and inject some distinctly OAE mischief into the tale of a wicked step mother and a presumed dead Earl. It is ironic that Croft wrote music for the comedy play 'The Funeral' because he is now most commonly remembered for his solemn suite of Funeral Services which were sung at George Frederic Handel's funeral in 1759 and have been included in every British state funeral since, including the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002 and former Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher in 2012.
ABOUT THE INSTRUMENTS IN THIS FILM SERIES
ABOUT THE OBOE
ABOUT THE CONTRABASSOON We have a free YouTube channel where you can learn moare about our period instruments.
BEHIND THE SCENES Katharina Spreckelsen, OAE Principal Oboe "If you love the oboe like I do, it is like a dream come true to be allowed to work on repertoire played on a whole band of oboes. Big and small. I was interested in how the music for oboe band differed depending on whether it was intended for field music, for the theatre or even for an opera. I divided the material into three videos, highlighting the three different nationalities of the chosen composers, and then embedding the music in texts from the area or stories relating to the time of composition. The project was a fun collaboration of close colleagues and we truly loved every minute of it."
“Not all orchestras are the same” Three decades ago, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch. They began by throwing out the rulebook. Put a single conductor in charge? No way. Specialise in repertoire of a particular era? Too restricting. Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born. And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowed to keep questioning, adapting and inventing as long as it lived. Those original instruments became just one element of its quest for authenticity. Baroque and Classical music became just one strand of its repertoire. Every time the musical establishment thought it had a handle on what the OAE was all about, the ensemble pulled out another shocker: a Symphonie Fantastique here, some conductor-less Bach there. All the while, the Orchestra’s players called the shots. At first it felt like a minor miracle. Ideas and talent were plentiful; money wasn’t. Somehow, the OAE survived to a year. Then to two. Then to five. It began to make benchmark recordings and attract the finest conductors. It became the toast of the European touring circuit. It bagged distinguished residencies at Southbank Centre and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. It began, before long, to thrive. And then came the real challenge. The ensemble’s musicians were branded eccentric idealists. And that they were determined to remain. In the face of the music industry’s big guns, the OAE kept its head. It got organised but remained experimentalist. It sustained its founding drive but welcomed new talent. It kept on exploring performance formats, rehearsal approaches and musical techniques. It searched for the right repertoire, instruments and approaches with even greater resolve. It kept true to its founding vow.
In some small way, the OAE changed the classical music world too. It challenged those distinguished partner organisations and brought the very best from them, too. Symphony and opera orchestras began to ask it for advice. Existing period instrument groups started to vary their conductors and repertoire. New ones popped up all over Europe and America. And so the story continues, with ever more momentum and vision. The OAE’s series of nocturnal Night Shift performances have redefined concert parameters. Its home at Acland Burghley School, has fostered further diversity of planning and music-making. The ensemble has formed the bedrock for some of Glyndebourne’s most ground-breaking recent productions. Remarkable people are behind it. Simon Rattle, the young conductor in whom the OAE placed so much of its initial trust, still cleaves to the ensemble. Iván Fischer, the visionary who punted some of his most individual musical ideas on the young orchestra, continues to challenge it. Mark Elder still mines it for luminosity, shade and line. Vladimir Jurowski, the podium technician with an insatiable appetite for creative renewal, has drawn from it some of the most revelatory noises of recent years. And, most recently, it’s been a laboratory for John Butt’s most exciting Bach experiments. All five of them share the title Principal Artist. Of the instrumentalists, many remain from those brave first days; many have come since. All seem as eager and hungry as ever. They’re offered ever greater respect, but continue only to question themselves. Because still, they pride themselves on sitting ever so slightly outside the box. They wouldn’t want it any other way. ©Andrew Mellor
OAE TEAM
Orchestra Consultant Philippa Brownsword
Life President Sir Martin Smith
Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead
Choir Manager David Clegg
Finance and Governance Director Pascale Nicholls
Librarian Colin Kitching
Board of Directors Imogen Overli [Chairman] Steven Devine Denys Firth Adrian Frost Nigel Jones Max Mandel David Marks Rebecca Miller Roger Montgomery Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Matthew Shorter Dr. Susan Tranter Crispin Woodhead
Development Director Emily Stubbs Projects Director Jo Perry Education Director Cherry Forbes Communications Director Elle Docx General Manager Edward Shaw Education Officer Andrew Thomson Projects Officer Sophie Adams Finance Officer Fabio Lodato Digital Content Officer Zen Grisdale
Leaders Huw Daniel Kati Debretzeni Margaret Faultless Matthew Truscott Players’ Artistic Committee Steven Devine Max Mandel Roger Montgomery Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Principal Artists John Butt Sir Mark Elder Iván Fischer Vladimir Jurowski Sir Simon Rattle Sir András Schiff Emeritus Conductors William Christie Sir Roger Norrington
Marketing and Press Officer Anna Bennett Box Office and Data Manager Carly Mills Head of Individual Giving and Digital Development Marina Abel Smith Development Operations Officer Kiki Betts-Dean
Life President
OAE Trust Adrian Frost [Chairman] Paul Forman Steven Larcombe Alison McFadyen Caroline Noblet Imogen Overli Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Diane Segalen Maarten Slendebroek Sir Martin Smith Caroline Steane Honorary Council Sir Victor Blank Edward Bonham Carter Cecelia Bruggemeyer Stephen Levinson Marshall Marcus Julian Mash Greg Melgaard Susan Palmer OBE Jan Schlapp Susannah Simons Lady Smith OBE Rosalyn Wilkinson Mark Williams
SUPPORTERS OAE Thirty Circle
We are particularly grateful to the following members of the Thirty Circle who have so
generously contributed to the re-financing
of the Orchestra through the OAE Trust. Thirty Circle Patrons Bob and Laura Cory
Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Thirty Circle Members
Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter
Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones
Selina and David Marks
Julian and Camilla Mash
Mark and Rosamund Williams
OAE Experience scheme
- Principal Keyboard
Ann and Peter Law
Jenny and Tim Morrison
Corporate Partners
Caroline Noblet
Lubbock Fine Chartered Accountants
Andrew Nurnberg
Swan Turton
Professor Richard Portes
Corporate Associates
Olivia Roberts
Bannenberg and Rowell
John and Rosemary Shannon
Champagne Deutz Mark Allen Group
Aston Lark Gelato
Season Patrons
John Armitage Charitable Trust Julian and Annette Armstrong Adrian Frost
Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones
Selina and David Marks
Imogen and Haakon Overli
Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Philip and Rosalyn Wilkinson
Mark and Rosamund Williams
One Anonymous Donor Project Patrons
Anthony and Celia Edwards Bruce Harris
One Anonymous Donor Aria Patrons
Mrs A Boettcher
Stanley Lowy
Gary and Nina Moss
Rupert Sebag-Montefiore
Maarten and Taina Slendebroek
Caroline Steane Eric Tomsett
Chair Patrons
Mrs Nicola Armitage
- Education Director
Hugh and Michelle Arthur - Double Bass
Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter -Principal Trumpet
Ian S Ferguson and Dr Susan Tranter
- Double Bass
James Flynn QC
- Principal Lute/Theorbo
Paul Forman
- Principal Cello, Principal Horn, Violin
Jonathan and Tessa Gaisman - Viola
Michael and Harriet Maunsell
- Second Violin - Oboe
- Principal Oboe
- Principal Bassoon - Violin
- Principal Horn
Roger and Pam Stubbs - Clarinet
Crispin Woodhead and Christine Rice - Principal Timpani
Education Patrons
Mrs Nicola Armitage
Patricia and Stephen Crew Rory and Louise Landman
Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd
Andrew & Cindy Peck
Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA Rising Stars Supporters
Annette and Julian Armstrong Mrs Rosamund Bernays Denys and Vicki Firth Bruce Harris
Ms Madeleine Hodgkin Mrs Sarah Holford
Nigel Jones and Francoise Valat-Jones Peter & Veronica Lofthouse Mark and Liza Loveday Mr Andrew Nurnberg
Old Possum's Practical Trust Imogen and Haakon Overli
The Reed Foundation Associate Patrons
Charles and Julia Abel Smith Noël and Caroline Annesley
Sir Richard Arnold and Mary Elford
Catherine and Barney Burgess Katharine Campbell
David and Marilyn Clark David Emmerson
Peter and Sally Hilliar
Steven Larcombe
Moira and Robert Latham
Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd
Alison McFadyen
Roger Mears and Joanie Speers
David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon
Julian Markson
John Nickson and Simon Rew
Cynthia and Neil McClennan
Andrew and Cindy Peck
John Ransom
Ivor Samuels and Gerry Wakelin
Alan Sainer
Emily Stubbs and Stephen McCrum
Mr and Mrs Tony Timms
The Patrick Rowland Foundation
David Wilson
Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity
MM Design - France
Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust Peter Rosenthal
Sue Sheridan OBE
Shelley von Strunckel Mr J Westwood
Robert Wilkinson
Two Anonymous Donors Gold Friends
Michael Brecknell
Gerard Cleary
Mr and Mrs C Cochin de Billy
Stuart Martin
Paul Rivlin
Palazzetto Bru-Zane
Matthew & Sarah Shorter Mrs Joy Whitby
Six Anonymous Donors Young Patron Ed Abel Smith
Marianne and William Cartwright-Hignett Elizabeth George David Gillbe
David and Ruth Samuels
Peter Yardley-Jones
Mr Anthony Thompson
Silver Friends
Dennis and Sheila Baldry
Haylee and Michael Bowsher
Tony Burt
Henry Mason
Young Ambassador Patron
Jessica Kemp
Breandán Knowlton Rebecca Miller
Apax Foundation
Anthony and Jo Diamond
Ashley Family Foundation
Malcolm Herring
Boshier-Hinton Foundation
Rupert and Alice King
Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust
Mr and Mrs Michael Cooper
Arts Council England
Rachel & Charles Henderson
Barbour Foundation
Brian Mitchell Charitable Settlement
Alison and Ian Lowdon
The Charles Peel Charitable Trust
Her Honour Suzanne Stewart
Chivers Trust
Susannah Simons
Chapman Charitable Trust
Two Anonymous Donors
Derek Hill Foundation
Bronze Friends
Dyers Company
Tony Baines
Robin Broadhurst
Graham and Claire Buckland Dan Burt
D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Ernest Cook Trust
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation
Sir Anthony & Lady Cleaver
Garfield Weston Foundation
Roger Easy
Geoffrey Watling Charity
Michael A Conlon Mrs SM Edge
Mrs Mary Fysh
Stephen & Cristina Goldring Martin and Helen Haddon
Garrick Charitable Trust Henocq Law Trust
JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation J Paul Getty Jnr
General Charitable Trust
Ray and Liz Harsant
John Lyon’s Charity
Mrs Auriel Hill
Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
The Lady Heseltine
Orchestras Live
Parabola Foundation
Paul Bassham Charitable Trust Peter Cundill Foundation PF Charitable Trust
Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust Radcliffe Trust
Rainbow Dickinson Trust RK Charitable Trust
Schroder Charity Trust Sir James Knott Trust Sobell Foundation
Stanley Picker Trust
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust The Loveday Charitable Trust
The R&I Pilkington Charitable Trust The Shears Foundation
The Vernon Ellis Foundation
Trusts & Foundations
Christopher Campbell
Patricia Herrmann
National Foundation for Youth Music
Old Possum’s Practical Trust
Sam Hucklebridge
Two Anonymous Donors
Michael Marks Charitable Trust
Stephen and Penny Pickles
Chris Gould
Anthony and Carol Rentoul
Metropolitan Masonic Charity
Linbury Trust
The OAE continues to grow and thrive through the generosity of our supporters. We are very grateful to our sponsors and Patrons and hope you will consider joining them. We offer a close involvement in the life of the Orchestra with many opportunities to meet players, attend rehearsals and even accompany us on tour. For more information on supporting the OAE please contact Emily Stubbs Development Director
emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk
0208 159 9318
WE MOVED INTO A SCHOOL We are thrilled to announce that we are now the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School in Camden, North London. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows us to live, work and play amongst the students of the school. Three offices have been adapted for our administration team, alongside a recording studio and library. We use the Grade II listed school assembly hall as a rehearsal space, with plans to refurbish it under the school’s ‘A Theatre for All’ project, so for the first time, we will all be in the same place: players, staff and library! Crispin Woodhead, our chief executive who came up with the idea of a new partnership, says: “Our accommodation at Kings Place was coming to an agreed end and we needed to find a new home. I felt that we should not settle for a conventional office space solution. We already had a strong relationship with many schools in Camden through our education programme and our appeal hit the desk of Kat Miller, director of operations at Acland Burghley School. She was working on ways to expand the school’s revenue from its resources and recognised that their excellent school hall might be somewhere we could rehearse. It felt like a thunderbolt and meant we wanted to find a way for this place to be our home, and embark on this new adventure to challenge and transform the way we engage with young adults.” The school isn't just our landlord or physical home. Instead, it will offer the opportunity to build on twenty years of work in the borough through OAE’s long-standing partnership with Camden Music. Having already worked in eighteen of the local primary schools that feed into ABS, the plans moving forward are to support music and arts across the school into the wider community. This new move underpins our core ‘enlightenment’ mission of reaching as wide an audience as possible. A similar project was undertaken in 2015 in Bremen, Germany. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie moved into a local comprehensive school in a deprived area and the results were described as “transformational”, with improved academic performance, language skills, mental health and IQ scores; reputational benefits; greater interest in and engagement with music among pupils; strengthened links between school, orchestra and community; and even, according to some of the musicians who took part, an improvement in the Kammerphilharmonie’s playing. Margaret Faultless, OAE leader and violinist, said: “As classical musicians, it can often feel as though we exist in a bubble. I think I can speak for the whole Orchestra when I say that we’re all looking forward to this new adventure. We are all used to meeting with people from outside the classical music world of course, but the value of our new project lies in the long-term work we’ll be doing at the school and the relationship that will hopefully develop between the students, their parents and teachers and the orchestra.” “The members of the Bremen Kammerphilharmonie said their experience actually improved them as an orchestra and I think the same will happen to us over the next five or so years, and it will remind all of us of the reasons we make music, which are sometimes easy to forget, especially in our strange and troubled times.” continues Margaret. “I am certainly looking forward to learning from the young people at Acland Burghley and in turn introducing them to the joys of our music and music-making.” The move has been made possible with a leadership grant of £120,000 from The Linbury Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Their support is facilitating the move to the school and underwriting the first three years of education work.
OAE EDUCATION A PROGRAMME TO INVOLVE, EMPOWER AND INSPIRE Over the past twenty years OAE Education has grown in stature and reach to involve thousands of people nationwide in creative music projects. Our participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and we pride ourselves in working flexibly, adapting to the needs of local people and the places they live. The extensive partnerships we have built up over many years help us engage fully with all the communities where we work to ensure maximum and lasting impact. We take inspiration from the OAE's repertoire, instruments and players. This makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone is involved; players, animateurs, composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders all have a valued voice.
SUPPORT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMME The work we do could not happen without the support of our generous donors. If you would like to support our education programme please contact Marina Abel Smith, Head of Individual Giving and Digital Development marina.abelsmith@oae.co.uk 0208 159 9319
OAE TOTS at Saffron Hall
oae.co.uk orchestraoftheageofenlightenment theoae oae_photos
The OAE is a registered charity number 295329 Registered company number 2040312. Acland Burghley School, 93 Burghley Road, London NW5 1UH 0208 159 9310 | info@oae.co.uk Photography | Zen Grisdale