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.
Salieri - Cublai gran kan de' Tartari - Les Talens Lyriques - La Seine Musicale
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2024, %RIn the week that Labour won a landslide election in the UK and Mark Cavendish (fellow Manxman and childhood friend) cemented his 35th stage win to become the greatest Tour de France cyclist of all time, I was working in Paris with Les Talens Lyriques. This was just 20 days before the opening of the Paris Olympics. Having finally finished my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet (www.justnaturaltrumpet.com), I was able to spend my free time—which had formerly been taken up with seemingly endless writing and editing tasks—walking from the hotel (near Gare du Nord) to La Seine Musicale (a distance of 11km). I did this so that I could spend as much time en route listening to Beethoven’s ninth symphony, which I will be performing from memory at the BBC Proms with Aurora Orchestra in August. I observed the construction of the Olympic grandstands along the Seine on my route.
I was in Paris from 3–6 July 2024 to record Antonio Salieri’s Cublai gran kan de' Tartari with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset at La Seine Musicale. We performed this work as a staged opera in Vienna earlier this year, and it was great to revisit this music for this recording. On this occasion the soloists were: Carlo Lepore (Cublai), Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (Timor), Marie Lys (Alzima), Äneas Humm (Posega), Fabio Capitanucci (Orcano), Giorgio Caoduro (Bozzone), Ana Quintans (Memma), and Lauranne Oliva (Lipi). I really enjoyed the recording; it’s always a pleasure to work with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques and it is such a relief to have finished my book, which will be available soon!
Classical, Les Talens Lyriques, Recording, The Section
