FEBRUARY 2020
COMING EVENTS
Guest directors for MPRO rehearsals. Fred Palmer will be traveling on three of the remaining rehearsal dates during MPRO’s 2019-2020 season, and he has arranged for guest directors. Marion Rubinstein will direct the February 12 and April 1 rehearsals. Marion is a Bay Area music teacher and performer in the Albany Consort; her website is http://www.rubinstein.ws/. Greta Haug-Hryciw will direct us on Thursday March 19 (note the date change for your calendar). Greta served as MPRO’s Assistant Director for several years. For a recent biography summarizing her current activities, see: https://www.ocrecorders.org/ocrs-workshop-2020/.
San Francisco Recorder Society workshop. The SFRS has scheduled a workshop with Hanneke van Proosidj and Rotem Gilbert on Monday, February 17 (Presidents’ Day). The title is “A Hike Through Germany.” For more information, see: http://arssanfrancisco.org/welcomedropdownmenuv/newsevents.html.
SFEMS summer workshops. The San Francisco Early Music Society has opened registration for its summer workshops. There will be six workshops between mid-June and late July including two different recorder workshop sessions. For more information see: https://sfems.org/sfems-workshops/.
Berkeley Festival. SFEMS sponsors the biennial Berkeley Festival and Exhibition(BFX) in even numbered years. BFX 2020, a week-long early music festival. is scheduled from June 7-14. Preliminary information is available at: https://sfems.org/berkeley-festival-exhibition/.
CONDUCTOR’S CORNER
Dear members of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra,
Listed below is the music for the orchestra's next three meetings. Since I will be traveling next month, Marion Rubinstein will be directing the meeting on February 12. Please note that sopranino recorder and bass viola da gamba will be needed at all three meetings, great bass recorders on February 12 and March 11, krummhorns on February 12 and 29 and contrabass recorders on February 29 and March 11.
February 12
Josquin: Mille regretz
Susato: Pavane Bittre Reue
Grieg: The Last Spring
Schein: Suite No. 15
February 26
Mesomedes: Hymn to the Sun
Anonymous: Rex
Mozart: Ave Verum
Corelli: Sonata Op. 4
March 11
Dufay: Quel fronte signorille
Grieg: The Last Spring
Mozart: Ave Verum
Corelli: Sonata Op. 4
I look forward to seeing you at these upcoming meetings and working on this music with you. Sincerely, Fred Palmer
RECORDINGS OF MPRO’S “NEW” MUSIC
In January, the orchestra began rehearsing several “new” pieces for performance at next December’s holiday concert. They include the chanson Mille Regretz, attributed to Josquin des Pres, and a later arrangement of this piece as a pavane, Bittre Reue, published in 1551 in Susato’s Danserye. Following are links to online recordings.
Binchois, De plus en plus. This is an instrumental arrangement; there are multiple vocal recordings online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzTeyrlK_iA.
Josquin des Pres, Mille regretz. This is a vocal arrangement by La Capella Reial de Catalunya with Jordi Savall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBwbt6hK6c. The lyrics, with an English translation, are available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille_Regretz.
Susato, Pavane Mille Regretz. This is an instrumental version by the Early Music Consort of London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee1TiyJXt_o. Another recording of the Susato pavane by a viol consort can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHx3tdpdUdQ.
Schein, Suite No. 15 from Banchetto Musicale. This is a recording of the entire suite by a recorder ensemble. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orDSL06HY9g. A YouTube search for “Schein” and "Brisk Recorder Quartet Amsterdam" leads to recordings of individual movements from the suite. This is the Allemande: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aitJBEEiJc&list=OLAK5uy_ll_o4QsYDJzFD-9rOY0TWwIiF5QskTHlo&index=5.
Grieg, Varen (The Last Spring). This is a vocal arrangement by the Brussels Chamber Orchestra and Chorus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WS-PjunUUA. For an instrumental version, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zGRQsYZE7U.
MORE ON THE HYDRAULIS
MPRO’s music for the next season also includes Mesomedes’ Hymn to the Sun, with an accompaniment by the ancient Greco-Roman hydraulis, or water organ. At the orchestra’s January 8 rehearsal, Fred Palmer compared the sound of the hydraulis to an Irish pennywhistle. The last issue of Upbeat included a link to a video of a reconstructed hydraulis from Bath, England, with an organ-like sound. Following is a link to another series of videos of reconstructed ancient instruments. The first two feature German reconstructions of the hydraulis with more of a "pennywhistle" sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZey_H8qmQA. For comparison, this is a link to an “extreme” pennywhistle performance by James Galway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6gaU61O9-w
The Board: President: Judith Unsicker; Treasurers: Chantal Moser and Mary Ashley; Recording Secretary: vacant; Membership: Chris Flake and Tom Granvold; Publicity: vacant; Graphics: Mary Ashley; Newsletter Editor: vacant; Workshop Coordinator: vacant; Hospitality: vacant; Music Sales: Laura Gonsalves; Historian: vacant; Webmaster: Dan Chernikoff; Music Director: Fred Palmer. MPRO website: http://www.mpro-online.org
MPRO Archives: http://www.mpro-online.org/MPROArchives.htm
