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.
Handel - La Resurrezione - Le Banquet Céleste - Beaune
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RFollowing two enjoyable performances of Handel’s La Resurrezione (HWV 47) with Le Banquet Céleste in Rennes in March this year, it was great to rejoin this ensemble to reprise this work at the Beaune International Baroque Opera Festival (Festival international d'opéra baroque de Beaune) on Friday 11 July 2025. I have performed in this festival twice before: my first appearance was Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (HWV 55) with the Gabrieli Consort in 2013 and the second was an outdoor performance of Lully’s Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide with Les Talens Lyriques in 2017. It was great to be back.
I travelled to Beaune entirely by train—or rather on five trains: Bedford to London, Eurostar to Paris, RER D to Gare de Lyon, TGV to Dijon, and a regional train from there to Beaune. Before leaving, I recorded several videos about my new range of 3D printed mutes (in the morning before departing) and I edited it all together on my laptop: this made the travel time go by very quickly, and I will definitely do this again on future travel days. The day seemed to whizz by.
France, HandelI travelled to Beaune entirely by train—or rather on five trains: Bedford to London, Eurostar to Paris, RER D to Gare de Lyon, TGV to Dijon, and a regional train from there to Beaune. Before leaving, I recorded several videos about my new range of 3D printed mutes (in the morning before departing) and I edited it all together on my laptop: this made the travel time go by very quickly, and I will definitely do this again on future travel days. The day seemed to whizz by.
Beaune is a very beautiful place, and after launching my mute video online on the morning of the concert, I went for a walk into town during the warmest part of the day (c. 30ºC!). Despite the heat, it was a very enjoyable place to explore; this is a very picturesque and photogenic town.
