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.
Household Cavalry Masterclass
%AM, %Europe/London %b %2014, %ROn Tuesday, 25th of March, I had the pleasure of giving a lecture and masterclass at Hyde Park Barracks for members of the Life Guards in the Household Cavalry and members of the Band of the Blues and Royals. I performed with the Altenburg Ensemble and we presented a short history of the Natural Trumpet, and then demonstrated each point using a suitable piece of music. We performed music by Bendinelli, Altenburg, Biber, Dauverné, Monteverdi and Schiedermayer.
After our presentation, we invited several of their players to join us. Those of us who have got spare natural trumpets had brought them and we were able to provide instruments for some of their players.
After our presentation and masterclass the musicians reciprocated by teaching us about their traditions and style of playing. As the oldest continuous tradition of trumpet playing in the world it was an honour to be present for this. Four of the state trumpeters played fanfares for us. Then they allowed us to play their instruments and provided us with handwritten parts to play from. They also instructed us how to play with the heavy banner, by getting your forearm to support the weight, so that the instrument balances more easily.
I would like to thank the ladies and gentlemen of the Household Cavalry for making this day such a memorable one. I was really inspired by the open mindedness of all present - this was a great opportunity for the mutually-beneficial exchange of knowledge and experience.