Parry’s Songs of Farewell
A look at Parry’s Songs of Farewell: intimate reflections on the end of life that are very different from his better-known pieces for grand public occasions.
Profile: Assistant Conductor, Francesca Massey
Continuing our series blog posts that look beyond the programme biographies, we talked to our Assistant Musical Director Francesca Massey about her musical career and the music she’s chosen for our ‘Songs of Farewell’ concert.
News: Support from Arts Council England and local trusts
We received generous financial support from the Arts Council National Lottery Fund and from local trusts for our performance of Monteverdi Vespers: this post looks at why this support is so important for our work with young people.
Monteverdi’s musical pictures
A few examples of the imaginative word painting that we’ve noticed in Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers as we prepare for our performance.
Sackbuts and cornetts
When Monteverdi wrote his 1610 Vespers, the instruments most commonly used in churches, after the organ, were sackbuts and cornetts, and these instruments add their very distinctive flavour to a…
Programme note: The Cloths of Heaven
The programme note by our Musical Director, Julian Wright, for our summer concert “The Cloths of Heaven”, on 24 June 2017 at St Brandon’s Church, Brancepeth. Benjamin Britten’s choral masterpiece, Hymn…