Exactly a week after playing in Oxford with the Oxford Bach Soloists, I was back in the 'City of Dreaming Spires' for the Taverner Consort's Symposium, entitled 'A Pursuit of Music'. The talk took place at Oxford University's Faculty of Music and Bate Collection on Sunday 23rd of April 2017.

I had given a talk at the previous event (Taverner at 40 - April 2013) and it was remembered that I had shown a certain level of technological prowess in my offering. Andrew Parrott asked me if I would be willing to assist the lecturers with their digital presentations and audio examples for the 2017 symposium. I was also asked to play some natural trumpet fanfares throughout the day, to encourage everybody back into the lecture theatre after each of the breaks.

The day began with an opportunity to view the instruments in the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments - many thanks to Andrew Lamb for opening this for us. I always learn something new every time I visit this remarkable collection.

After a brief introduction and welcome from Andrew Parrott, the first lecture began. Simon Ravens gave a thought-provoking lecture entitled: 'Can we turn back the clock?'. He quoted Joshua Rifkin:

"...historical performance is not concerned, primarily, with performance conditions – we’re not trying to get back into the unheated Thomaskirche on early winter mornings, although that, too, could probably give us some useful insights! Our main interest is in matters of sound and style."

Simon Ravens talked about many interesting aspects of Bach's work flow - the fact that he had no editor and there are often inconsistencies. He discussed whether these ought to be made consistent and offered "no singular solutions", mentioning the modern obsession with uniformity. He additionally pointed out that "We probably have more rehearsal time than the original players. Rehearsal practice would make for an interesting book." He went on to point out that there is not much historical evidence about the rehearsal process, so he suggested perhaps "it would be a pamphlet", as opposed to a book. Ravens' talk sparked an interesting debate, with all sorts of elements brought into play. I was fascinated by one comment regarding historical tempi. I had no idea that William Boyce, in 1762, had stipulated timings (and therefore implied speeds) for Handel's Coronation Anthems. Thomas Linley had also given a timing of 66 minutes for the Shakespeare Ode. Going back to the recurring theme of 'the unheated Thomaskirche', it was also mentioned that shorter cantatas may have been written for the winter performances. It was a fascinating lecture to begin with, really firing up the intellectual minds gathered in the room.

The second lecture was given by a very animated and passionate keyboard (and violin) player, Roy Goodman - 'On the presence of Keyboard in Haydn Symphonies'. He spoke about making recordings with Christopher Hogwood. He deduced that Haydn would have most likely been the keyboard player for his own symphonies as: he did not write figures in his scores, there are often no keyboard parts with other surviving parts, there are no records of another keyboard player being employed when Haydn was in London, and he offered the possibility that Haydn would have played both the keyboard and violin in the Farewell Symphony. Roy Goodman played several audio examples to illustrate his experiences, his past performances and his reasoning. He had also colluded with his contemporaries, other renowned keyboard players, to collect their thoughts on the subject.