6–11 August 2024
A small group of friends meets in a working Carmelite monastery in Ghent to explore interesting music and drink interesting beer.
As the deeply conservative music of the Spanish Renaissance, with its subtle Mozarabic influences, gave way gradually to a curiously localised and often archaic Baroque, something quite different was happening in Spanish colonies in Latin America. There, traditional local rhythms and instruments fused with both sacred and secular European imports to create an entirely distinctive sound, often startlingly unchained from the severe orthodoxy of Spain and Portugal. In our course, we will trace the parallel evolution of these two tracks, from the earliest era of trans-Atlantic fertilisation right up to the present day.
Update (21/07/24)
- Final music list is below! No need to print anything. Printed copies will be provided.
- The practical information has been updated too.
- Full book (PDF for tablets — no need to print)
- YouTube playlist
- Spotify playlist
medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music in Spain
- Mozarabic chant
- Palestrina: Pange lingua II
- Anonymous: La rosa enflorece
- Morales: Agnus dei
- Anonymous: E la don don
- Fleche el Viejo (?): Que farem del pobre Joan
- Victoria: Pange lingua more hispano
- Guerrero: A un niño llorando al yelo
New World composers
- Anonymous: Hanacpachap cussicuinin
- Fernándes: Xicochi xicochi
- de Torrejón y Velasco: A este sol peregrino
- García de Zéspedes: Convidando está la noche
- de Araujo: Los coflades de la estleya
The Spanish Netherlands
Contemporary Latin America
Basque Country
to show off to each other
Dates and schedule
Tuesday 6 August
- Arrive (anytime up to late evening)
Wednesday 7 August
- 09:00–12:00 Rehearsal SATB
- 17:30–19:30 Rehearsal SA
Thursday 8 August
- 09:00–12:00 Rehearsal SATB
- 17:30–19:30 Rehearsal TB
Friday 9 August
- 09:00–12:00 Rehearsal SATB
- 17:30–19:30 Rehearsal SATB
Saturday 10 August
- 09:00–12:00 Rehearsal SATB
Sunday 11 August
- Depart
Accommodation
The course is based at the Carmelite monastery in central Ghent. Our accommodation is in simple guest rooms in the monastery itself, and includes breakfast every day.
Travel
From the UK:
- Arriving by Eurostar: Take the train from London to Brussels (2 hours). When you arrive at Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid, take a direct train to Gent-Sint-Pieters/Gand-St-Pierre (28 mins).
- Arriving by air: Fly to Brussels airport (aka Brussels Zaventem) or to Schiphol in the Netherlands, then look for trains to Gent-Sint-Pieters/Gand-St-Pierre, probably changing in Brussels centre. Don’t fly to Charleroi.
Because of works in Ghent, there are temporary changes to the tram network and travel is not quite as simple as last year. Probably the best way to get from the station to the monastery will be:
- bus P4 towards Lange Steenstraat, alighting at Brugsepoort and walking for 7 minutes
- tram 1 towards Stelplaats, alighting at Galgenberg and walking for 10 minutes
- tram 3 towards Moscou, alighting at Galgenberg and walking for 10 minutes
The Google Maps app has been reliably updated with the latest changes during the work.
Isn’t there way too much music?
Don’t panic: we will not spend equal time on everything. Some pieces will be the serious focus of our workshops, while others will be passing attractions.
Which part should I sing?
The idea of a standard SATB choir, with two female and two male parts, was only really established in the 18th century. Before that, music was written for all kinds of assortments of voices, depending on the composer’s preferences and the context of performance. That’s why we have stuff in three, four, five, six and seven parts.
To make matters more complicated, some of the music on our list would originally have been sung by men only (with or without counter-tenors), and some parts might have been intended for instruments. Some music was designed to be flexible, adding or removing parts depending on the available singers, while the pitch could also be adjusted to taste. So any attempt to map old music onto modern choirs inevitably involves some give and take.
In general, I’ve tried to choose keys that I hope will allow everyone to pick a line that at least mostly fits. So, if you want to practise in advance, I’d say that you are free to choose without worrying too much about what everyone else is doing. Which line you pick will probably vary from piece to piece, depending on the key, the range, and what you fancy singing. And if you find a piece where really none of the lines fits your voice, which may happen for any part, then sit it out and listen!
The overall group balance doesn’t worry me too much. I think we have enough flexible sight-readers in the group that those who want to learn a particular line in advance can do so, and the others can adapt to make it work. It’s not like we will be spending hours on any particular piece.
How much sight-reading will be involved?
Easy question, complicated answer.
Firstly, the aim is not to rehearse and then perform, but more to sing and work on the repertoire together for our own pleasure. Any small performances (eg for the monks) will be incidental. So there is no target standard of performance we need to reach, and hence we don’t all need to start at exactly the same point on day 1.
But the other way to look at it is that a lot of people there will be fairly good sight-singers, so if someone is lagging, they might feel a bit self-conscious. That is really an individual preference and it can be offset by preparation. Non-sight-readers can prepare to their hearts’ content, of course. But then they will not get quite the same pleasure of ‘discovery’ en ensemble. I also plan to work from original notation a bit, which could make private preparation challenging for some pieces.
So. If you are confident to sight-read, then great. If you would like to prepare thoroughly, then also great, but then you may sacrifice some of the joy of discovery. And if you want to turn up unprepared and can’t sight-read at all, then you will probably feel a bit self-conscious, but you still won’t torpedo anything.