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),
Cimarosa - L’Olimpiade - Les Talens Lyriques - Paris
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2023, %RI joined Les Talens Lyriques for a recording of Domenico Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade, a drama by Pietro Metastasio. The recording was directed by Christophe Rousset and we used a new edition by Korneel Bernolet produced specially for the occasion. I joined Les Talens Lyriques on the last day of their rehearsals in Paris, at the Mairie of the 9th Arrondissement, on 17 December 2023. The following day
Louise Bertin - Fausto - Les Talens Lyriques
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2023, %RFresh from a tour of Spain with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, I continued this action-packed month with a recording and performance—thought to be a modern premiere—of Louise Bertin’s Fausto (1831) with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset. The performance took place on Tuesday 20th June 2023 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the recording took place in La Seine Musicale
Göttingen International Handel Festival - 2023 - Semele, Hercules & Medea
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2023, %RIt was a great pleasure to play with the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG) as part of the Göttingen Handel Festival 2023, under their new artistic director, George Petrou. I played first trumpet, with Gareth Hoddinott on second, Maarten van der Valk on timpani, and the horn players Stephan Katte and Claudia Pallaver.This year I arrived in Göttingen on 14th May 2023 and departed on 29th May 2023. The
Bach - O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht - Taverner Consort and Players
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2023, %RI played cornetto (in 465 Hz) in Bach's motet O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht [BWV 118] for a recording with Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort and Players, which took place at SJE Arts in Oxford on Tuesday 9th May 2023. The recording will be released very soon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this esteemed ensemble. Andrew Parrott & his incredible team, including 4 brilliant
The Sorcerer’s Shadow - Les Talens Lyriques & Michael Spyres
%AM, %Europe/London %b %2022, %RI played with Les Talens Lyriques for a recording of excerpts from several nineteenth-century works by composers such as Méhul, Beethoven, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Weber, Auber, Spontini, Bellini, Marschner, and Wagner. This recording project, called The Sorcerer’s Shadow, featured the virtuoso tenor soloist Michael Spyres. The programme explored Wagner and his influences. Christophe Rousset conducted
Portrait de Pauline Viardot - Les Talens Lyriques - Paris
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2021, %ROver the years Will Russell (2nd trumpet) and I have been fortunate enough to come into the possession of several rare and unusual nineteenth-century brass instruments. We were delighted when Les Talens Lyriques invited us to join their recording project – Portrait de Pauline Viardot – as we do not often get the opportunity to play these instruments professionally. The programme featured music
Bach - Christmas Oratorio - Live from London - Gabrieli Consort & Players
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2020, %RI played in the trumpet section for the Gabrieli Consort & Players’ video recording of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio [BWV 248] at St. John’s Smith Square on 8th and 9th of November 2020. The subsequent videos will be released on the liturgically correct occasions between Christmas and Epiphany as part of a series of six ultra high definition video releases to a ticketed online audience, part
Thoughts on Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.2
%AM, %Europe/London %b %2020, %R2021 will mark the tricentenary of J. S. Bach's iconic Brandenburg Concertos. Ahead of Berlin Classics' release of my debut recording as one of the four soloists in the second concerto (recorded in 2019 with Il Gusto Barocco at Ansbach Bachwoche) I was asked for my thoughts about this fantastic concerto. These thoughts may feature in or influence the liner notes for the upcoming CD. I have now performed
Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.2 - Recording - Bachwoche Ansbach 2019
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2019, %RAs I played the final phrase of my tenth performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F major [BWV 1047] (which took place last Saturday at Castle Ashby) I felt as I often do after playing that piece - that it would be great to play it again very soon. Playing Brandenburg 2 is a definite adrenaline rush and there’s something in the thrill of its survival that makes you
Göttingen International Handel Festival - 2019 - Saul - Hannoversche Münden
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2019, %RThere is no doubt that the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG), the resident orchestra at the Göttingen International Händel Festival, is very special to all of us who play in it. The overriding ethos within the orchestra is often nothing short of euphoric and the Göttingen International Händel Festival is musically, socially and culturally one of the highlights of my working year. I feel
Bach - B Minor Mass - Greenwich Old Royal Naval College Chapel
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2019, %RI performed Bach’s B Minor Mass [BWV 232] with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists and the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir on Wednesday 17th April 2019. The performance was directed by Ralph Allwood MBE (who I had remembered from a previous Brandenburg Baroque Soloists performance at Wellington College in August 2017).
The Old Royal Naval College Chapel is a magnificent building
Schelle, Kuhnau & Bach - ‘Christmas in Leipzig’ - Solomon’s Knot - St. Mary’s Nottingham & Milton Court, London
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2018, %RMusic by three successive Leipzig Thomaskantors (incidentally, all with the first name Johann) was the focus of Solomon’s Knot’s performances in Advent 2018. Rehearsals for the programme entitled ‘Christmas in Leipzig’ began on 26th November 2018 at Holy Trinity Church on Prince Consort Road in London. The first public performance took place at St. Mary’s Church in the Lace Market, Nottingham
Gottfried Finger - Recording - Bishopsbourne
%AM, %Europe/London %b %2018, %RThe church of St. Mary the Virgin in the tranquil village of Bishopsborne in Kent was the venue for a recording of music by Gottfried Finger (c.1655-1730). The recording was organised by Professor Robert Rawson - Professor of Musicology and Historically Informed Performance at Canterbury Christ Church University.
The recording of music by ‘The Ingenious Mr Finger’ began on Friday 6th July
Göttingen International Handel Festival - 2018
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2018, %RIt was wonderful to return to the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2018. Performing in this festival is one of the musical highlights of my year.
The director and players of the FestspielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) are infectiously-energetic musicians; performing in their element. Thriving on each others’ energy, these remarkable and characterful musicians creatively achieve incredible
Vox Luminis - King Arthur - Recording - Antwerp
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2018, %RPerforming Purcell’s King Arthur at Snape Maltings with Vox Luminis was one of my highlights of 2017, so it was with great pleasure that I got the opportunity to visit Belgium for two days of recording with Vox Luminis. The ensemble was recording King Arthur at AMUZ (Augustinus Muziekcentrum) in the centre of Antwerp.
Arriving in Antwerp is certainly an impressive affair; Antwerpen-Centraal
Telemann - Der Tag des Gerichts - Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century - Tour 142 - Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2017, %RLiving a life as a touring musician, it is certainly a frequent occurrence to wake up and wonder exactly where you are. Sometimes it takes just a few moments to realise, as you recall your movements of the previous day. On other occasions a blandly corporate hotel room (while offering predictability and consistency) gives little indication of whether you are in London, Paris, Vancouver or Sydney. Even
Lully - Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide - Les Talens Lyriques
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2017, %RFollowing on from a residency at the Opera National du Lorrain in Nancy (2014), and a tour to Versailles and Vienna (2016), I joined Les Talens Lyriques for a third time; performing and recording Jean-Baptiste Lully's 'Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide' (1674) under the direction of Christophe Rousset.
Lully's opera 'Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide' is a 'tragedy in music', with
Göttingen International Handel Festival - 2017 - Galakonzert with Dominique Labelle
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2017, %R
I travelled to the wonderful University City of Göttingen in Germany to perform with FestspielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) directed by Laurence Cummings. It was delightful to be back at the Göttingen International Händel Festival having enjoyed performing in the 2014 and 2015 festivals.
The Galakonzert took place at the Stadthalle on Saturday 13th of May 2017 and it marked the opening of
Salieri - ‘Les Horaces’ - Les Talens Lyriques - Versailles & Vienna
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2016, %R
Christophe Rousset’s orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques [@talenslyriques] invited me to play in their project comprising two performances and a recording of the opera ‘Les Horaces' (1786) by Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825).
On the 10th of October 2016, I travelled from London to Paris on the Eurostar [a marvel of railway engineering that I never fail to be impressed by]. Rehearsals with Les Talens