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, Kuhnau & Telemann - Vox Luminis - Hamburg, Rotterdam, Dortmund, Antwerp, London, Amsterdam, Modena & Brescia
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RAn extensive Vox Luminis project of festive music by Johann Sebastian Bach and other Baroque composers began with rehearsals in Malonne, near Namur in Belgium on Saturday 6 December 2025. The first concert took place on Tuesday 9 December at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The programme featured Telemann’s Uns ist ein Kind geboren (TWV 1:1451), J. S. Bach’s Christen äztet diesen Tag (BWV 63) and Bach’s Magnificat in D major (BWV 243). Further performances of the same programme with the same 50-strong forces followed at De Doelen in Rotterdam on Thursday 11 December and at the Konzerthaus Dortmund on Saturday 13 December.
After additional rehearsals in Namur from 15–17 December, to rehearse some substituted repertoire (Kuhnau instead of Telemann, and Bach’s Magnificat in E-flat major instead of in D), parts two and three of this three-part and five-country tour followed. The second part of the tour featured Johann Kuhnau’s Magnificat in C major alongside J. S. Bach’s Christen ätzet diesen Tag (BWV 63) and J. S. Bach’s Magnificat in E-flat major (BWV 243a); this permeation of the programme featured fewer performers to on account of the small stage at London’s Wigmore Hall. Performances took place at AMUZ in Antwerp on 18 December and at Wigmore Hall on 19 December.
Vox Luminis was directed by Lionel Meunier, with Tuomo Suni as lead violin. The trumpet section consisted of Russell Gilmour, William Russell, Krešimir Fabianic and Sam Kinrade, with Koen Plaetinck on timpani. It was a joy, in particular, to perform Christen äztet diesen Tag, one of my favourite Bach cantatas; it even made it into my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet, as a remarkably chromatic passage appears in the first trumpet part. I explain that ‘Bach musically portrays the anguish of Satan’s torment using five different semitone intervals: C to B (16:15), B to B♭ (15:14), B♭ to A (14:13), F to E (11:10), and G to F♯ (12:11). Chromatic means ‘colourful’, and Bach takes the listener through a full spectrum in this exceptional phrase.’ For more information about the book please visit www.justnaturaltrumpet.com
This tour, which for me effectively began with a trumpet and organ recital in Stuttgart, continued right up until the 23 December 2025. The final performance of the tour, in Brescia, was my last before Christmas and this year, even. Happy Christmas!
Bach, Baroque, Vox Luminis, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet
After additional rehearsals in Namur from 15–17 December, to rehearse some substituted repertoire (Kuhnau instead of Telemann, and Bach’s Magnificat in E-flat major instead of in D), parts two and three of this three-part and five-country tour followed. The second part of the tour featured Johann Kuhnau’s Magnificat in C major alongside J. S. Bach’s Christen ätzet diesen Tag (BWV 63) and J. S. Bach’s Magnificat in E-flat major (BWV 243a); this permeation of the programme featured fewer performers to on account of the small stage at London’s Wigmore Hall. Performances took place at AMUZ in Antwerp on 18 December and at Wigmore Hall on 19 December.
The final part of the tour, with medium forces (larger than in London and Antwerp and fewer than in Hamburg, Rotterdam and Dortmund) featured the same programme as the first part of the tour (TWV 1:1451, BWV 63 & BWV 243), with concerts at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam on Saturday 20 December, followed by a concert in the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni in Modena on Sunday 21 December and the final (video recorded) concert at the Teatro Grande in Brescia on Monday 22 December.
Vox Luminis was directed by Lionel Meunier, with Tuomo Suni as lead violin. The trumpet section consisted of Russell Gilmour, William Russell, Krešimir Fabianic and Sam Kinrade, with Koen Plaetinck on timpani. It was a joy, in particular, to perform Christen äztet diesen Tag, one of my favourite Bach cantatas; it even made it into my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet, as a remarkably chromatic passage appears in the first trumpet part. I explain that ‘Bach musically portrays the anguish of Satan’s torment using five different semitone intervals: C to B (16:15), B to B♭ (15:14), B♭ to A (14:13), F to E (11:10), and G to F♯ (12:11). Chromatic means ‘colourful’, and Bach takes the listener through a full spectrum in this exceptional phrase.’ For more information about the book please visit www.justnaturaltrumpet.com
This tour, which for me effectively began with a trumpet and organ recital in Stuttgart, continued right up until the 23 December 2025. The final performance of the tour, in Brescia, was my last before Christmas and this year, even. Happy Christmas!