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Led by Michael Deason-Barrow

VENUE - Tonalis Music Centre, Stroud, GLOSEnquiries: Tel. 01666-890460 info@tonalismusic.co.uk

www.tonalismusic.co.uk

th st JULY 18 - 21 2015

Discover how English Landscapes,Ÿ spirituality Ÿ language Ÿ history & Ÿ character

have shaped the Music of this Sceptered Isle.

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1:30pm

lang dn E i nf Mo ti ur si ip cS Explore the Soundscapes of England

Who is the Course for?This course will go into every facet of England’s extraordinary musical inheritance and is for all those explorers who want to uncover the essence of the English Folk Soul in music.

What We’ll DoMichael will give fascinating introductions to each of the themes outlined here,

accompanied by guided listening to key representative examples of English Music.All the music will also be explored against the vivid backdrops of English history, philosophy, spirituality and culture and constantly be illumined by references to English poetry and painting, all of which will build fascinating bridges of insight for you.

Throughout each day you’ll also have the opportunity toSing (and play) Glorious examples of English Music.

Course TutorMichael Deason-Barrow‘s deeply felt love of England makes him your perfect guide to this theme. He was a chorister in the quintessential English cathedral of Salisbury, and used to go to Britten’s home in Aldeburgh to have singing lessons with that most English of all singers, Peter Pears. Michael has also sung English folk music throughout the country and regularly participated in English folk rituals from Morris dancing to mummers’ plays. For many years now Michael has lived in the rolling Cotswold hills where to this day he regularly roams in the steps of Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Gurney and Howells.

FeesEarly Bird Fees £135 (for booking by May 15th) £142 (by July 1st) £150 (thereafter)Group Bookings (3+), Couples , Full-time Students & OAPs: £10 each off the above fees2 Days (Sat. & Sun.) possible: £80 (by June 1)/£85 Work Scholarship: £90 (contact us for details) Times: July 18th: 12 - 7:00; July 19th & 20th: 10 - 6pm; July 21st: 10 - 1:30pm

A Registration Letter incl. Travel directions will be sent on receipt of your application.

TONALIS, 4 Castle Farm Close, Leighterton, GLOS, GL8 8UY

Application Form - Spirit of England in MusicPlease complete and send to the above address, with a non-refundable

£40 Deposit/Admin.fee payable to 'Tonalis'.

Name: email:

Address:

Postcode: Tel: Mobile:

The Spirit of Engand in Music

Would you like to travel through England and experience it in a

new light through listening to ‘THE SOUL OF A NATION IN SOUND’?

This inspiring course invites you to come and exploreWHAT IS ENGLISHNESS IN MUSIC?

On this journey you will hear the wellsprings of:— archetypal English Folk melodies such as Greensleeves

— the Medieval glories of the ‘Sumer Round’ and the ‘Agincourt Carol’— the Tudor glories of Dowland, Tallis and the Elizabethan Madrigalists— new visions of England from composers such as Casken and Matthews

and last, but not least, the quintessential England of — Purcell, Handel, Elgar, Delius, Finzi, Howells, Vaughan Williams and Britten

You’ll find Michael Deason-Barrow’s deeply felt love of England,

and all its glorious music, makes him your perfect guide to this theme.

England’s Music is an amazing amalgamation of the following themes.

So come and explore: > English Landscapes in Music

Generations of musicians have been inspired by the diverse and glorious landscapes of England.From the wild coastlines of Britten’s Suffolk - with its vast expanses of sea and sky,

and the rounded contours and soft edges of Vaughan Williams’ rolling Cotswold hills;to the moorlands of Holst’s Egdon Heath and the rugged cliffs of Cornwall,

you’ll hear how the English landscape has shaped composers’ musical imaginations.

E.Marshall puts it perfectly. She says, “Our horizon is rarely the clear line that it is in other countries. Likewise, the music lacks the sharpness of foreign compositions - rather, it revels in changing nuances, reflecting those transitory influences and shifting shapes.” Just as importantly, you’ll hear how English weather and seasons with their changeablity, moisture and breezes are the keynotes of English Music. It’s not surprising then that English melodies are full of movement where transcience is the defining feature.

> The English Character in MusicThis course is all about all the elements that make up the English character in music, including those uniquely English mixtures of opposites (or doubleness), ranging from: English reticence versus English eccentricity (from Lewis Carroll and Monty Python to Percy Grainger and Cardew’s Scratch Orchestra), to the special blends of Protestant and Catholic, king and parliament.

> Spirituality and Nature Mysticism in English MusicJust as Blake, Palmer, Turner and Cecil Collins used landscape to convey visionary experiences, so the soundscapes of English composers are often full of mystical significance. So come and explore the ‘nature mysticism’ that sings throughout Vaughan Williams’ celebrated ‘Lark Ascending’, and Delius’ ‘Song of the High Hills’.

Just as importantly, we’ll explore how English religion has inspired unique forms of sacred music, (e.g. in our cathedral music), and the English sense of ceremony found in Elgar’s ‘nobilimente’.

> The Influence of the English Language & Poetry on ComposersEach language has its own music which is as important as the music set to a poem.

So come and discover how the unique rhythms and sound qualities (e.g. all those diphthongs)of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE shape the composer’s voice and dictate the music.

Along the way, you’ll hear some of our most lovely ENGLISH POEMS SET TO MUSIC: from Shakespeare, Blake, Keats, Houseman and Hardy, to the influence of Medieval English poetry on English composers, to the special music of the Book of the Common Prayer.

We’ll also look at quintessential ENGLISH PAINTINGS in relationship to music, from the feathery lightness of Gainsborough to the watercolours of Constable, and from Turner and the dappled art of Samuel Palmer, to the abstract landscapes of Nash and Nicholson.

> Explore the Musical Elements of English SoundscapesSo what are the distinctive stylistic musical elements that signify ‘Englishness’?

Here you’ll find ‘rhythms’ freed from the tyranny of the bar line, loads of trochaic and triplet rhythms, irregular metres (e.g. the medieval ‘Agincourt Song’) and ‘senza misura’ folk songs.

Then there’s English ‘melody’ which is an incorporeal, non-linear art, full of the church/folk modes with their flattened 7ths that so perfectly characterise the English temperament.

We’ll also investigate the unique ‘harmonic’ world of English Music - from its modal chords to its liquescent harmonies of softly drawn lines - as well as the distinctive sense of English musical ‘form’ manifested by composers’ love of ‘theme and variations’ and ‘fantazias’.

> The Inspiration of English Folk MusicLast, but not least, we invite you to join the celebrated English folk song collectors, Cecil Sharp, Vaughan Williams and Percy Grainger, as they travelled around the country researching the intrinsic music of a nation through listening to the music of those people least affected by extraneous educational influences, namely folk musicians.

So we’ll sing together some of England’s most exquisite melodies, from ‘Bushes and Briars’ to ‘Brigg Fair’ - as well as Michael’s enchanting choral arrangements of folk songs -to help you get inside the quintessential elements of Englishness in music.