Music from the Ancients Music Concerts - 1990 to 2001
During these eleven years, the RCC Choir presented ten concerts of early music featuring only period instruments of the medieval, Renaissance and baroque eras of Westren Europe. They were all well-attended and enthusiastically accepted, even though this idiom of music was virtually unknown in the South Miami-Dade area at the time.
This short tale of how Michael Roy broached the ancient concert idea to the church elders rather tells the story: after describing what early music is (music from the beginning of time until the ends of the careers of Bach and Handel, loosely), and naming some of the ancient instruments that would be played in the concert (recorders, viols, sackbut, rankett, gemshorns, krummhorns, curtal, serpent, cornamusen, portative organ, harpsichord, et al), and attempting to describe the kinds of choral music to be featured (motets, madrigals, plainchant, oratorio), the elders of RCC stared blankly in the silence of the session meeting. Finally one elder, himself a choir member who was to be taught how to sing music of this ilk, said, "Well,..uh,..okay. We have no objection to this...kind of concert,.. whatever it is!" Thus, the choir began its schooling to ascend to excellence in the styles of early choral.
The concerts became well-known in the Redland and Homestead; people also came from all over Miami to attend the only concerts in So. Florida of ancient music played on authentic early instruments, and sung by a stellar choir, highly trained in the idiom. They were music lovers, attendees of the symphony and ballet, members of the Recorder Society, the Renaissance Guild, and the Folk Society, music clubs, and also the curious as to what it all was about.
The concerts were performed by the RCC chamber choir of 15 to 18 singers (and later, the Immanuel Singers, from 203 to 2008), and an early music consort of 6 to 8 players of period instruments accompanied the choir and presented instrumental pieces.
Now Glad of Heart (K. Lee Scott): This soaring anthem has a medieval sound, and in fact, the words are from the16th c. MR plays an alto cornamuse, a Renaissance era windcap double reed with a sound similar to the krummhorn
in several instrumental interludes. The anthem shows the power and range of the resident RCC choir: performed in the Easter Sunday service, 1994. Diane Maltby is at the piano.
To be assigned a new track
Ho la hé: another early Ren. dance tune, but this time, played with a consort of cornamusen (singular: cornamuse), which are windcap double reeds, as are
krummhorns. Cornamusen are straight-shaped, like recorders: see the slideshow photos (34 & 35). MR plays the bass cornamuse with the Courtly Sounds Early Consort. The year was 1995, down at the Redlands Church.
Alto Cornamuse
bass Cornamuse
Listen only
Listen and
view score
The Night Watch: This 16th c. Holbourne almain (dance tune) is a favorite of Renaissance and recorder societies, and is often played with a "closed"recorder consort or a mixed consort of winds, lutes, and other
plucked or bowed strings. Period brass instruments also like it, so all are welcome. Here it is presented with viols and recorders: soprano recorder, Rodolpho Guzman; alto recorder, Michael Roy; below these woodwinds are two bass viols (violas da gamba), played by Jone Vaughn and Lynn Baumel (see slideshow photo # 37).
Lynn Baumel (RIP) and Jone Vaughn play bass violas da gamba
Click here to see the
slideshow of early instruments.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring: Listen to an unusually orchestrated and pleasing version of this choral masterpiece by J. S. Bach. The chorale is at its best, providing a powerful and sumptuous choral performance to
what is often only an instrumental, i.e. a piano/organ piece. Accompanying the choir
is portative organ, harpsichord, recorders and viols. Playing the air, Rodolpho Guzman.
Rodolpho Guzman (RIP)
Riu, Riu, Chiu: This early Renaissance song is performed live in-concert here by shifting consorts of instruments: the first verse is a recorder consort heralded by an opening bass recorder solo by MR. The second verse is a krummhorn consort, with an interlude solo by MR on the great bass krumm.
The final verse is a "mixed consort" of krumms, with a solo on the top by professional recorder player, Rodolpho Guzman, on the sopranino recorder.
Madrigal Singers - RCC
A Little Pretty Bonny Lass: The RCC madrigal singers: Katie Burdick, Becky Spence, sopranos; Jan Eaton, Patty Pluto, altos; John Flynt, tenor; Michael Roy, bass-baritone. This madrigal is one of the most popular and oft performed of the genre.
Fair Phyllis: (John Farmer; pub. 1599) - The Immanuel group had some of same singers as this photo except for sopranos: Beverley Murdock and Claudia Springer;
and Chris Moore joined John at tenor. Fair Phyllis gets lost on the mountainside, and her lover, Amyntas, finds her and "then they fell a-kissing." A modern theory is, the reason Phyllis ran away: she couldn't pronounce his name. Efforts to get him to change it to John (as in "Farmer") were unsuccessful. Adding to her angst, sissified men's names were prevalent in those days, especially with the sort of men who chased women around on the greensward. Manlier monikers like "Wyatt" or "Axel" were unavailable to English gentlemen in the 16th c.
Becky Katie Jan John Diane Michael
Spence Burdick Eaton Flynt Maltby Roy
sopranos alto tenor Piano bass-bari
Claudia and Beverley
The Early Consort - Ancient & Celtic - The Concert
Arise, Arise, This Day Rejoice! (Johann Walther, 1496 - 1570): This short, but pleasing early Renaissance polyphonic motet is in English and has the sackbut, recorders and viols doubling the choral parts (Immanuel).
Ancient & Celtic, the Concert (2007, Immanuel Presb.), featured an early consort with Alison Northup on fiddle, Zulema Garraffo and Irwin Seltzer on recorders, Sarah Lodico playing modern cello, with Jone on bass viol. Also playing ancients that night were Mac Cowden on sackbut and serpent. MR played recorders, bagpipes, krummhorns, and cornamusen.
Alison - Zulema - Irwin - Sarah - Jone
Gloria Patri (Palestrina, 1526-1594): The chorale sounds powerful on this double choir motet. The early instruments take the part of the second choir, with recorders, krummhorn, serpent, and viols.
Filiae Jerusalem (Gabrieli - 1510-1585): A motet with the choral parts doubled on recorders, viols, sackbut and portative organ. It cadences with a fine countrapuntal "alleluia."
Mac Cowden -
sackbut, serpent
The Bonny Pipes
Carol of the Bagpipers (arr. MR): This provocative 16th c. carol provided Handel with the tune for "He Shall Feed His Flock," from Messiah: performed here with krummhorns doubling the men's "zums" under the women's lead.
Of course, the requisite instrumental solo is MR on the Galician bagpipes (performed at RCC on Christmas Eve,1994).
Sussex Carol (arr. MR): This early carol (1684) is the RCC chamber choir at its best. It also features the Galician bagpipes played by MR.
I Saw Three Ships (arr. MR): Another early English carol (17th c.) features the Redland Singers (in existence 2001-2003) performing at a holiday concert by the Greater Miami Symphonic Band. Again, MR on the Spanish Pipes.
Michael Roy - Galician pipes.
Ronde (Tielman Susato (1550-1561): from "Sunday of Ancient Music," 1990, RCC. MR plays extended bass krummhorn.
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: The great
Martin Luther hymn is here overdubbed by MR
on the family of krummhorns pictured here
The alto krumm plays the hymn tune, with the inner parts on tenor and extended bass. On the bottom is the great bass krummhorn: In modern nomenclature, it would be contra-bass. Diane Maltby provides the organ accompaniment. Listen for the great bass to cadence on super F (F1).
alto (in F) - tenor (in C) - extended bass (in F) - great bass (in C)
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: This performance was at Immanuel Presbyterian, (Palm Sunday Conc. - 2006) and features early inst.s with great bass krummhorn playing in consort and also with a rare solo (!) Mac Cowden
plays tenor sackbut. Diane Maltby backs up the early instruments on organ.
The Fairie Round - Holborne: mixed consort of recorders, a single krummhorn, and viols. Another well known and oft played song by Holborne, one of
the most popular of Renaissance composers. This dance tune has a rhythmically complex three against two construction throughout. Hear MR give an intro about the perils of 3 X 2, and wait for his last comment after the applause ends. MR, who more often plays the bass part, plays the top here, on descant (soprano) recorder.
Descant, or soprano recorder in C: plays an octave above its written notes (like a piccolo).
Great bass krummhorn (in C). The modern nomenclature would be contrabass. The inst. achieves a C2 via regular fingering; it is capable of notes down to F1 as pedal tones.
This Is the Record of John - Orlando Gibbons:(1583-1625): Arguably the most unusual early choral piece on this site, this is a verse anthem; the introduction to this piece will explain that interesting (if you are an early music freak!) aspect. The accompaniment is the mixed consort of viols and recorders, with
Diane Maltby on organ. Each of the three sections is a question asked by the people to John the Baptist: first, is he the Christ?; second, is he the prophet Esaias (Isaiah)?; and the third question is: who is he? In each section the soloist, who is our superlative alto, Patty Pluto, sings first, asking the question and giving John's response. The choir then enlarges on that question and John's answer. It is all done with very complex contrapuntal instrumentation and choral. As I said: a very unusual form of early music, a form, as you will hear in the intro, that was only viable for about 40 years. I'm glad that, in our early concerts (this in 1995), the verse anthem was represented, but it won't soon be on the hit parade.
Patty Pluto, alto
Links to more early music and ancient instruments on this site
For all of the Messiah selections from Bach to
the Future and other
oratorio concerts, go here
For Ancient and Celtic, The Concert (Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 2007) go here
For early instruments and a photo gallery of ancients,
go here
The first ever early music concert
This started the concert series which, in 18 years, went past 40 full production concerts, including 11 early music concerts. This one, the first, was all instrumental, with the "Courtly Sounds" consort.
These following Handelian oratorio choruses are included on the ancient music page in that they were all accompanied by only early instruments: portative organ, harpsichord, recorders, violas da gamba, and sackbut. This choir was the first in the South Florida to present Handel's Messiah with only early instruments. They retain this exclusivity to this day.
Surely, He Hath Borne
Our Griefs
Lift Up Your Heads
Hallelujah!
The Redlands Community Church Choir from the "Bach to the Future" concert, 2000.
Early Music from Professional Musicians at large
The Swan - T Roberts - Jeremy West on Lyzard (tenor cornetto)
Nun Komm - Der Heiden Heiland - Bach - Jeremy West - His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts