York Waits Workshop

The Early Music Shop, Salts Mill, Victoria Road, Saltaire, West Yorkshire BD18 3LA

Saturday 10 September 2011

Thanks to The Early Music Shop for hosting a workshop at Salt’s Mill on Saturday,10th September directed by Tim Bayley of the York Waits. Among the participants were members of Leeds Waits, Waytes and Measures, de Mowbray’s Musick and three other York Waits.

 

Participants played a diverse ensemble of shawms, sackbuts, curtal, bagpipes, crumhorns, gemshorn, hurdy-gurdies, rebecs, recorders, renaissance guitar, tabor and portative organ (I don’t think I’ve omitted anything but I may be wrong) through a selection of German and Flemish polyphonic music from circa 1500.

Music played during the day included a suite of three “Branles d’Ecosse” (anon.), “Frisch und frohlich wolln wir leben” (Kreutzenhoff), “Hilf gluckh mit freuden” (anon.), “Vray dieu d’amours” (anon.), “Holendisch (Welsch) giger lied” (anon.), “Ich kumm aus fremden Landen her” (anon.), the ronde “Mon amy” by Susato, the pavane “Pour mon plaisir” (anon.), three settings of “Dont vient cela” (de Sermissy, anon., and Susato), “Die Schlacht” (anon.), “Tambur, tambur” (anon.), “Alle furf, alle furf” (anon.) and “Brunette” (Stockem). By careful use of subsets of instruments with different sonorities at times, Tim brought the most out of the music.

At the end of the afternoon, musically stimulated but physically exhausted, we refreshed ourselves before most of us returned for the York Waits evening concert.

Alan Radford