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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Schütz - Weihnachtshistorie - Vox Luminis - Recording - Gedinne
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2023, %RJust a few days after performing Bach’s B Minor Mass with Vox Luminis at Wigmore Hall in London, I travelled to Belgium (via the Eurostar) to record Heinrich Schütz’s Weihnachtshistorie (‘Christmas Story’) [SWV 345] with Vox Luminis in Gedinne, in the tranquil Belgian countryside near the French border.
I played the second clarino part, alongside Rudolf Lörinc, and a small continuo team comprising Simon Linné (theorbo), Anaïs Ramage (dulcian) and Marc Meisel (organ). Sebastian Myrus (baritone) sang the part of Herod in this short Intermedium VI. Since this short movement is all that the trumpets play, the part is often played by the cornetto players (who are utilised elsewhere in the work), so it was a pleasure to play this movement with the trumpets. It was also great that we could use the church organ in the (aptly named) Église Notre-Dame de la Nativité in Gedinne.
It was a lovely short trip, from 3rd to the 4th of July 2023, to and from Belgium (which I did entirely by rail); I look forward to hearing the finished recording.
Natural Trumpet, Schütz, Vox Luminis
It was a lovely short trip, from 3rd to the 4th of July 2023, to and from Belgium (which I did entirely by rail); I look forward to hearing the finished recording.
In the past two months I have given 20 performances (in Belgium, England, France, Germany, and Spain) and performed on five CD recordings. This busy stretch began with a recording of Bach's motet O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht [BWV 118] with the Taverner Consort, and it continued with a performance of Monteverdi Vespers with His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts. I then performed in the Göttingen Händel Festival (including at the Elbphilharmonie) and continued on to do a tour of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in Germany and Spain, straight into a recording and performance of Louise Bertin's Fausto (1831) with Les Talens Lyriques at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Next we reprised Les Talens Lyriques' Mozart and Friends programme, with Benjamin Appl, at the Seine Musicale. Then—on the home straight—a B Minor Mass with Vox Luminis at Wigmore Hall, and finally this recording of Schütz's Weihnachtshistorie!