Henry Purcell and the Music of Westminster Abbey with Patrick Craig
2021-06-05 20:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Online(Zoom)
Another presentation in Patrick’s inimitable style, with wonderful pictures, musical excerpts and personal anecdotes.
Henry Purcell has been described as England’s Orpheus and ranks alongside the greatest of this country’s composers. His rise to the position of Organist of Westminster Abbey at the age of 20 saw him lauded above the talents of his predecessor, John Blow and his teacher, Pelham Humfrey, both of whose music we will hear in order to place Purcell in context. His family home was just round the corner from the Abbey and for a while he turned his back on the theatre music he had been pursuing to focus on this job.
As a countertenor Patrick has had the joy of singing much of Purcell’s solo music and will be delighted to share this colourful period in our country’s history. Including music by Gibbons and Croft, Patrick will trace some of the most influential names in the musical heritage of Westminster Abbey and guide us through this extraordinary building.
Please book below.

Zoom Celebration with Robert Hollingworth
2021-07-03 10:00 - 12:00
What a strange 16 months it has been. How we have all adapted to keeping early music and musicians going as best we can, has been quite amazing at times. To celebrate this, we are finishing our season before our traditional summer break as we started, with Robert Hollingworth and a MEMF zoom workshop. Who knows what we will come back to in the Autumn – still zooming, live workshops? At present we just don’t know but we are going to sign off in style.
The session will start with a short chat between Robert and MEMF chair Nancy about how, in April 2020, they started things off, how difficult it was coping with the new technology we suddenly had to use and the pitfalls that beset the first sessions as we dipped our toes into the world of zoom, mute. etc – and who can forget the arguments over chat….
Then we are asking you to vote for some of your favourite MEMF zoom workshops and the Saturday morning EXTRA sessions. To help you choose there will be a list of all the Zoom sessions we have hosted and there will be voting buttons on the Jotform for you to fill in. You will hear a clip from the most popular ones during the session.

Please book below.

Jean Maillard - International Man of Mystery with Tutor Rory McCleery
2022-01-23 19:00 - 21:00
In view of the recent alarming rise in Covid cases we felt it sensible to cancel our live workshop with Rory McCleery at the beginning of January and have this Zoom session instead, which Rory is happy to do.

Despite his being identified as ‘one of the most important French composers of the sixteenth century’ by the renowned Musicologist François Lesure nearly half a century ago, Jean Maillard is a figure who remains shrouded in mystery and whose works have rarely been performed in modern times. This contrasts sharply with his reception during his own lifetime: his works were widely disseminated and survive in manuscripts and prints originating in Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK. Telling also is the number of composers who modelled their own compositions on works by Maillard: this list includes fellow Frenchman Goudimel and also such luminaries as Orlando Lassus, Jacob Handl and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. It is possible that Maillard harboured Protestant sympathies which may have resulted in his exclusion from the circles of the Catholic royal court in Paris, and even, like his fellow composer Claude Goudimel, his death in the 1572 St Bartholomew’s Day massacres.
The session will last around 2 hours in all – 45 minutes then a 15 minute tea break with another 45 minutes and time for questions.
We shall be singing:
Pierre Cadeac Je suis desheritee
Jean Maillard Agnus Dei
Jean Maillard Fratres mei elongaverunt
Jean Maillard Omnes gentes attendite
Jean Maillard Ascendo ad Patrem meum
Jean Maillard In me transierunt
Jean Maillard Gaudent in caelis
Please book below. As usual all donations will go directly to Rory so please donate what you can.
