The Medieval Manuscript the 'Chronicles of Mann and Sudreys' mentions various locations, including the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even places as far away as Norway and Brittany.
Russell Gilmour (trumpet) and David Kilgallon (organ) use melodies from these countries and they merge and fuse these ideas together with their own to create unique compositions for trumpet and organ. The idea behind their musical collaboration is to explore traditional music from these countries and to adapt the music, interpret it and explore it. Chronicles' musical format is slightly unusual in that it combines trumpet and organ - not the instruments you may initially associate with folk music - but it is an approach that has sparked a lot of interest.
Their limited edition EP "Prologue" is a sample of things to come, as the production of a full album is underway. The full album will be Chronicles' musical impression of the Isle of Man's influences and rich history - as documented in the Chronicles of Mann.
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writing on music, photography, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.
Interpretation Course - Míča & Telemann - Wratislaia Cantans, Wrocław
%AM, %Europe/London %b %2015, %RThe Wratislavia Cantans festival, now celebrating its 50th year, has a long tradition of holding an 'Interpretation Course' for young instrumentalists and singers to perform cantatas and oratorios. The importance of this course became quickly apparent in the first ever festival, where the participants of the course had to spring into action to replace an orchestra that could not get to Wrocław in time to play in the festival. The Interpretation Course has been included ever since, now with their own (intentionally pre-planned) concerts.
This year, the musical director of the Interpretation Course festival orchestra was Benjamin Bayl. He directed the orchestra which was a mixture of professionals and students. The group rehearsed at the Academy of Music in Wrocław and gave concerts in the satellite towns of Kłodzko (10/09/2015), Brzeg (11/09/2015) as well as in the Red Hall in the brand new National Forum of Music (NFM) in Wrocław (12/09/2015).
The programme for the Wratislavia Cantans festival was entitled: "Cztery Żywioły" or "The Four Elements" and it featured the following works:
František Antonín Míča – Quatuor Elementa
Georg Philip Telemann – Die Tageszeiten TWV 20:39
The Míča featured two trumpets in C (myself and student Taras Kulbashnyi) in the final chorus and the Telemann featured one trumpet in F in one aria with the oboes as well as a part in a chorus.
Natural Trumpet, Poland, Telemann, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra |
| Kłodzko |
This year, the musical director of the Interpretation Course festival orchestra was Benjamin Bayl. He directed the orchestra which was a mixture of professionals and students. The group rehearsed at the Academy of Music in Wrocław and gave concerts in the satellite towns of Kłodzko (10/09/2015), Brzeg (11/09/2015) as well as in the Red Hall in the brand new National Forum of Music (NFM) in Wrocław (12/09/2015).
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| National Forum of Music in Wrocław |
The programme for the Wratislavia Cantans festival was entitled: "Cztery Żywioły" or "The Four Elements" and it featured the following works:
František Antonín Míča – Quatuor Elementa
Georg Philip Telemann – Die Tageszeiten TWV 20:39
The Míča featured two trumpets in C (myself and student Taras Kulbashnyi) in the final chorus and the Telemann featured one trumpet in F in one aria with the oboes as well as a part in a chorus.
I intially thought about using the coiled trumpet in F for the Telemann but I decided to use the traditional natural trumpet. When the NFM's photgrapher Bogusław Beszłej came with us to Brzeg, he asked me to have my photograph taken in front of a patterned wall - to give the impression of the the vines coming out from the coiled trumpet.
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| © Bogusław Beszłej - Archiwum Narodowego Forum Muzyki |
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| Taras Kulbashnyi & Russell Gilmour in Brzeg |