NUNEATON BRANCH: July Pastoral meeting with Caroline Jones
Caroline Jones brought a very varied selection for us to play at our July Pastoral meeting. We began with Paul Clark’s arrangement of the Finale to Act 3 of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, composed in 1670 by Jean-Baptiste Lully, who although famous for establishing the French Baroque style of music, and his contribution to that which was played at the Palace of Versailles during the reign of King Louis XIV, was in fact born in Italy but later became a French citizen. This grandiose piece is part of the ballet based on the well-known play by Molière.
It was then back in time to the mid-sixteenth/early seventeenth century for the Fantasy Sextet by the English Renaissance composer William Byrd, written whilst he was under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I. Originally scored with the viol instrument in mind and without bar lines, this version has been modified by adding punctuation marks to make it more practicable for modern-day recorder playing.
Travelling to Germany, the second part of the afternoon opened with two Intradas (fanfare-like introductory works) from a slightly later period, firstly Intrada III: Vater Unser im Himmelreich – Our Father in Heaven, a paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer, and secondly Intrada XII, Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott – A Mighty Fortress is our God. Both were songs penned by the Protestant Reformation theologian Martin Luther, with the settings composed in 1620 by Michael Altenburg, a Lutheran pastor, at the time when he was based in Tröchtelborn, a small town now located in Thuringia state, about 153 miles south-west of Berlin.
Followin
g our sojourn abroad, it was time to head back to the British Isles and the summer wedding season in Scotland for a light-hearted suite by Marg Hall entitled Something Old, Something New….. written for Steve Marshall and the Orchestra on the Hill. The four movements, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue, with the titles reflecting each one’s unique style, were played in order, with the last one instilling the end of the session with a distinctly jazzy mood.
The next meeting will be held at 2.30 pm on Saturday 20th August at Attleborough Baptist Church. Visitors and new members will be made very welcome. Please ring 024 76737236 or e-mail for details. Find us on Facebook at Nuneaton Branch of The Society of Recorder Players.
VIVIEN GOODE
19/07/22