Another excellent workshop on Saturday with the irrepressible Richard Wilberforce guiding us through some Spanish Renaissance vocal Villancicos. The manuscript from which these delights were taken is the Cancionera di Upsala. Any relief that we didn’t have to sing Swedish was quickly swamped by the realisation that summer holiday Spanish wasn’t a lot of help! However, although Richard spent some time going over rough pronounciation (more to get some sense of style and some consistency), he was much more concerned with bringing out the beauty of the music.
The Villancicos are a mixed lot; some sweetly longing for the lover who never turns up, much praise of the Virgin Mary, and in one case a stern warning against becoming a cuckold! All share a definite sense of the strong tune (usually from a popular song) and often a chorus with a strong beat crying out for a backing group of percussion and plucked strings. We were encouraged to sing keeping in mind “the sun beating on the back of our necks and the colour of red tomato that you only get in a very hot climate”.
Looking forward; Heironymus Praetorius in Loughborough (June) and French music for the Baroque band in Warwick (July).
A sad day at the AGM as we bade farewell to our retiring Chairman Mike Ashley, who has stepped down after 3 years in the Chair preceded by 9 years as Treasurer. Heather Holt will take on the role as Acting Chair. David Yates also retired from the role of Secretary after several years. Two new Committee members were elected. Details will be in the minutes which will be circulated to members as usual.