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.
Bach Sinfonia from Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (BWV 29), Sinfonia (BWV 1045) & Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen (BWV 11) - Wigmore Hall & Purbeck Arts Week
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2022, %RI performed with the Gabrieli Consort & Players, directed by Paul McCreesh, at London’s Wigmore Hall on Friday 27th May 2022. A subsequent performance of the same programme took place at Lady St. Mary’s Church in Wareham the following day. I last performed at Wigmore Hall with this group just last month, and I had previously performed at the Purbeck Art Weeks festival in Dorset with I Fagiolini in 2017.
The programme began with the opening Sinfonia from Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (BWV 29), which featured William Whitehead (organ). The first half of the programme continued with Bach’s Mass in A (BWV 234), which featured the mesmerising flute playing of Marta Goncalves and Eva Caballero, and the soloists Mary Bevan, Tim Mead, Thomas Walker (tenor) & Malachy Frame (bass).
After an interval the programme continued with a Sinfonia in D (BWV 1045) which featured the leader Catherine Martin (violin). After this, the tutti forces returned to the stage to perform Bach’s Ascension Oratorio, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen (BWV 11).
It was a pleasure to play this music on trumpets without finger holes, and the programme included quite a few harmonically interesting chords for us: the written F major triads in BWV 29 include two of the most naturally dissonant notes in the harmonic series. I played third trumpet, alongside Jean-François Madeuf and Katie Hodges, with Nick Cowling on timpani.
In Purbeck, the performance ended with a rendition of Jesu, bleibet meine Freude from BWV 147—a favourite of the departing and long-serving director of the Purbeck Art Weeks festival. Jean-François and I sang with the one voice per part choir.
Bach, London, Ventless, Wigmore HallThe programme began with the opening Sinfonia from Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (BWV 29), which featured William Whitehead (organ). The first half of the programme continued with Bach’s Mass in A (BWV 234), which featured the mesmerising flute playing of Marta Goncalves and Eva Caballero, and the soloists Mary Bevan, Tim Mead, Thomas Walker (tenor) & Malachy Frame (bass).
After an interval the programme continued with a Sinfonia in D (BWV 1045) which featured the leader Catherine Martin (violin). After this, the tutti forces returned to the stage to perform Bach’s Ascension Oratorio, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen (BWV 11).
It was a pleasure to play this music on trumpets without finger holes, and the programme included quite a few harmonically interesting chords for us: the written F major triads in BWV 29 include two of the most naturally dissonant notes in the harmonic series. I played third trumpet, alongside Jean-François Madeuf and Katie Hodges, with Nick Cowling on timpani.
In Purbeck, the performance ended with a rendition of Jesu, bleibet meine Freude from BWV 147—a favourite of the departing and long-serving director of the Purbeck Art Weeks festival. Jean-François and I sang with the one voice per part choir.
