Tue - March 20, 2007
Phillip W. Serna Plays a Pavan by Tobias Hume
A native of Houston Texas, Phillip W. Serna (double
bass and viola da gamba) is an active and enthusiastic performer of early music,
as well as the contemporary, solo, orchestral, and chamber repertoires. Studying
with Jeffrey M. Hill, Phillip earned his high school diploma from the
Instrumental Music Department at the High School for the Performing and Visual
Arts in Houston, TX. Afterwards, Phillip earned his Bachelor of Music in double
bass performance with Stephen Tramontozzi at the San Francisco Conservatory of
Music in 1998. Phillip later completed his Master of Music at Northwestern
University School of Music in 2001 as a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Graduate
Fellow. Currently, Phillip is rigorously pursuing the Doctor of Music degree at
Northwestern University, studying double bass with international soloist DaXun
Zhang and formerly with Chicago Symphony Orchestra member Michael Hovnanian.
Phillip studied viola da gamba with Newberry Consort founder Mary
Springfels.
He plays here a pavan by Captain Tobias Hume:
He plays here a pavan by Captain Tobias Hume:
More of his music can be enjoyed online at http://www.phillipwserna.com/
Posted at 04:58 PM
Tue - October 24, 2006
Sting's 'Labyrinth': 16th Century Pop Music
by
Elizabeth Blair Refined Elizabethan music might not come to mind when you think of Sting. Think again.
The rock star has released Songs of the Labyrinth, a new CD of songs by John Dowland, one of the Elizabethan era's most important composers. It's a collection of songs for voice and lute -- a stringed instrument that was popular in the 16th century.
Posted at 08:43 AM
Thu - August 31, 2006
Chants from rare 16th-century choral manuscript to be performed in Halifax
By
James
Keller
Within the pages of a rare 450-year-old manuscript sitting in a vault at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia lie hundreds of lines of music that haven't been performed for centuries.
The choral chants, illustrated with elaborate full-page illuminations, were written between 1554 and 1555 at a convent in present-day Belgium.
By next June, the 440-page book and its deteriorating calf-skin covers will be restored, and a group of Australian singers will perform its songs of worship at Halifax's St. Mary's Basilica.
"It's going to be really exciting to have a first-rate performance from this manuscript," says Dalhousie University music professor Jennifer Bain, who has the meticulous task of analyzing the notation and transcribing it for modern singers.
Within the pages of a rare 450-year-old manuscript sitting in a vault at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia lie hundreds of lines of music that haven't been performed for centuries.
The choral chants, illustrated with elaborate full-page illuminations, were written between 1554 and 1555 at a convent in present-day Belgium.
By next June, the 440-page book and its deteriorating calf-skin covers will be restored, and a group of Australian singers will perform its songs of worship at Halifax's St. Mary's Basilica.
"It's going to be really exciting to have a first-rate performance from this manuscript," says Dalhousie University music professor Jennifer Bain, who has the meticulous task of analyzing the notation and transcribing it for modern singers.
Full article at canada.com >>>
Posted at 09:51 AM
Thu - August 24, 2006
René Jacobs: Baroque roots and a 'sense of fantasy'
By
George Loomis
The early music movement is premised on authenticity, yet one of its leading conductors insists on making decisions that raise the eyebrows of purists. "I have a right to do Handel the way he did it sometimes," is René Jacobs's response to those who accuse him of taking musical liberties.
Jacobs, a former countertenor, has risen to the top of his field by being as pragmatic as he is doctrinaire, yet inherent in his defense is that his choices are rooted in Baroque practice, if less obviously. The success that Jacobs has achieved could never have happened without the sheer vitality of his music making. His performances come alive for the audience, whether in the Baroque repertoire with which he has mainly been associated or in Mozart operas, where he has won much acclaim lately. On Saturday, he is to lead a new production of "Don Giovanni" at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, where he is artistic director.
"Musicologists say that Handel had no organ" at the Haymarket Theatre, where many of his operas were first performed, Jacobs said, "but what are they telling me?" The conductor was referring to the choice of so-called continuo instruments, primarily the harpsichord but also other keyboard or plucked-string instruments, which have the responsibility of improvising above a written bass line. Jacobs favors a variety of such instruments for contrast. "The way you resolve a continuo question depends on availability and your sense of fantasy," he said in an interview in Göttingen, Germany, before an appearance at the Handel Festival there. "I don't think composers imagined a particular sound for the continuo."
The early music movement is premised on authenticity, yet one of its leading conductors insists on making decisions that raise the eyebrows of purists. "I have a right to do Handel the way he did it sometimes," is René Jacobs's response to those who accuse him of taking musical liberties.
Jacobs, a former countertenor, has risen to the top of his field by being as pragmatic as he is doctrinaire, yet inherent in his defense is that his choices are rooted in Baroque practice, if less obviously. The success that Jacobs has achieved could never have happened without the sheer vitality of his music making. His performances come alive for the audience, whether in the Baroque repertoire with which he has mainly been associated or in Mozart operas, where he has won much acclaim lately. On Saturday, he is to lead a new production of "Don Giovanni" at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, where he is artistic director.
"Musicologists say that Handel had no organ" at the Haymarket Theatre, where many of his operas were first performed, Jacobs said, "but what are they telling me?" The conductor was referring to the choice of so-called continuo instruments, primarily the harpsichord but also other keyboard or plucked-string instruments, which have the responsibility of improvising above a written bass line. Jacobs favors a variety of such instruments for contrast. "The way you resolve a continuo question depends on availability and your sense of fantasy," he said in an interview in Göttingen, Germany, before an appearance at the Handel Festival there. "I don't think composers imagined a particular sound for the continuo."
Full article at iht.com >>>
Posted at 04:45 PM
Wed - April 19, 2006
Monteverdi's Orfeo in London
Review
by Helen
Wright
English National Opera @ Coliseum, London: 15, 18, 20, 22, 26, 28 April 2006
First performed in 1607, Claudio Monteverdi's masterpiece Orfeo wasn't quite the first opera written - that honour goes to Rinuccini's Daphne - but it's testament to the brilliance of the composer that it sounds as fresh today as it must have done then.
This new production (a co-production with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston) is as much a visual as an aural treat, marking the ENO debut of Chinese-born director, choreographer and actor Chen Shi-Zheng.
His production crosses all cultural and expressive borders. Combined with the vivid period sound of the ENO Orchestra in collaboration with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Laurence Cummings, the final effect is as near-perfect an experience as one could hope for.
English National Opera @ Coliseum, London: 15, 18, 20, 22, 26, 28 April 2006
First performed in 1607, Claudio Monteverdi's masterpiece Orfeo wasn't quite the first opera written - that honour goes to Rinuccini's Daphne - but it's testament to the brilliance of the composer that it sounds as fresh today as it must have done then.
This new production (a co-production with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston) is as much a visual as an aural treat, marking the ENO debut of Chinese-born director, choreographer and actor Chen Shi-Zheng.
His production crosses all cultural and expressive borders. Combined with the vivid period sound of the ENO Orchestra in collaboration with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Laurence Cummings, the final effect is as near-perfect an experience as one could hope for.
Full review at musicomh.com >>>
Posted at 08:26 PM
Wed - April 5, 2006
Baroque nouveau: 'Nuove Musiche' out on CD
by
Jason Victor Serinus
Norwegian-born lutenist and guitarist Rolf Lislevand has committed what amounts to heresy. On his new recording Nuove Musiche (ECM New Series), the professor of lute and historical performance practice at Trossingen Musikhochschule has, in a sense, reinvented orthodoxy.
Playing archlute, baroque guitar, and theorbo, Lislevand makes his instruments swing as much as they sigh. Taking his cue from authentic baroque music performance of the 1600s, he and his supporting musicians bring a distinctly modern improvisatory spirit to his arrangements of baroque melodies. Instead of attempting to play Kapsberger, Pellegrini, and Piccinini as one might have played them in the 17th century, the ensemble treats the composers as if they were still living, writing, and expecting musicians to improvise on the spot. The results are most unusual: period instruments played according to knowledge gleaned from period sources, but with a distinctly modern sensibility.
Norwegian-born lutenist and guitarist Rolf Lislevand has committed what amounts to heresy. On his new recording Nuove Musiche (ECM New Series), the professor of lute and historical performance practice at Trossingen Musikhochschule has, in a sense, reinvented orthodoxy.
Playing archlute, baroque guitar, and theorbo, Lislevand makes his instruments swing as much as they sigh. Taking his cue from authentic baroque music performance of the 1600s, he and his supporting musicians bring a distinctly modern improvisatory spirit to his arrangements of baroque melodies. Instead of attempting to play Kapsberger, Pellegrini, and Piccinini as one might have played them in the 17th century, the ensemble treats the composers as if they were still living, writing, and expecting musicians to improvise on the spot. The results are most unusual: period instruments played according to knowledge gleaned from period sources, but with a distinctly modern sensibility.
Full article at ebar.com >>>
Posted at 10:22 PM
Thu - March 9, 2006
John Dowland: Composer, Biography, Discography
By
Brian Robins
John Dowland represents one of the few examples of a great composer whose present day reputation is based on a relatively restricted range of works. His output is founded almost entirely on works written for his own instrument, the lute. Even many of his songs and consort pieces started life as lute compositions and it was as a lutenist that Dowland became famous throughout Europe.
John Dowland represents one of the few examples of a great composer whose present day reputation is based on a relatively restricted range of works. His output is founded almost entirely on works written for his own instrument, the lute. Even many of his songs and consort pieces started life as lute compositions and it was as a lutenist that Dowland became famous throughout Europe.
Posted at 04:27 PM
Mon - January 9, 2006
Ensemble gives old tunes new passion
BY ROB
HUBBARD
When you mention "early music," even some frequent classical concertgoers will say that it's not for them. Their preferred repertoire stretches chronologically from Bach to Brahms, with a touch of the 20th century tossed in. Perhaps they feel that the music of the medieval, Renaissance and early baroque eras digs a tad too close to the roots of what their favorite composers created.
But that may be because what they've heard was too academic — an all-head, no-heart experience that sounded more like a history lesson than a living, breathing piece of the past.
What those deprived souls may need is an afternoon with Les Voix Humaines, a Montreal-based ensemble that is anything but cold and academic in its approach to the sounds that emanated from Europe in the 16th through early 18th centuries. Making a Twin Cities stop as part of the "Music in the Park" series at St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon, the group hopscotched across the European continent, snatching tunes from France, Spain, England, Germany and Italy, lending each plenty of passion and palpable affection.
When you mention "early music," even some frequent classical concertgoers will say that it's not for them. Their preferred repertoire stretches chronologically from Bach to Brahms, with a touch of the 20th century tossed in. Perhaps they feel that the music of the medieval, Renaissance and early baroque eras digs a tad too close to the roots of what their favorite composers created.
But that may be because what they've heard was too academic — an all-head, no-heart experience that sounded more like a history lesson than a living, breathing piece of the past.
What those deprived souls may need is an afternoon with Les Voix Humaines, a Montreal-based ensemble that is anything but cold and academic in its approach to the sounds that emanated from Europe in the 16th through early 18th centuries. Making a Twin Cities stop as part of the "Music in the Park" series at St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon, the group hopscotched across the European continent, snatching tunes from France, Spain, England, Germany and Italy, lending each plenty of passion and palpable affection.
Full review at twincities.com >>>
Posted at 10:29 AM
Mon - May 9, 2005
John Donne, 17th-century poet of pop
By
Dalya
Alberge
JOHN DONNE was the Cole Porter of his day, a writer of subtle popular songs rather than just the author of cerebral poetry, according to new research.
The discovery of four musical scores by various composers of the day reveal that Donne intended some of his words to be sung rather than read.
Jonathan Holmes, a Donne scholar who is working on a play about the poet for The Globe theatre in London, found the material among piles of unidentified manuscripts in the British Library in London and the Bodleian in Oxford. He said: “This now alters how we think of Donne. His reputation is as a poet of metaphysical, intricate poetry that you have to spend hours to get to know — but, when performed, the music is an immediate aid to understanding it.”
The first performance in 400 years of text and music together will take place on June 9 at St Paul’s Cathedral, where Donne was Dean from 1621 until his death in 1631, frequently preaching before Charles I. The performers are Emma Kirkby and Carolyn Sampson, who are early music specialists, accompanied by The Sixteen with Harry Christophers and the lutenist Matthew Wadsworth. The recital will be interspersed with performances of Donne’s sermons, letters and poetry read by the actors Mark Rylance, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and Harriet Walter.
JOHN DONNE was the Cole Porter of his day, a writer of subtle popular songs rather than just the author of cerebral poetry, according to new research.
The discovery of four musical scores by various composers of the day reveal that Donne intended some of his words to be sung rather than read.
Jonathan Holmes, a Donne scholar who is working on a play about the poet for The Globe theatre in London, found the material among piles of unidentified manuscripts in the British Library in London and the Bodleian in Oxford. He said: “This now alters how we think of Donne. His reputation is as a poet of metaphysical, intricate poetry that you have to spend hours to get to know — but, when performed, the music is an immediate aid to understanding it.”
The first performance in 400 years of text and music together will take place on June 9 at St Paul’s Cathedral, where Donne was Dean from 1621 until his death in 1631, frequently preaching before Charles I. The performers are Emma Kirkby and Carolyn Sampson, who are early music specialists, accompanied by The Sixteen with Harry Christophers and the lutenist Matthew Wadsworth. The recital will be interspersed with performances of Donne’s sermons, letters and poetry read by the actors Mark Rylance, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and Harriet Walter.
Full article at timesonline.co.uk >>>
Posted at 08:27 AM
Mon - April 25, 2005
THE KING OF SPAIN: Jordi Savall at the Metropolitan Museum
by ALEX
ROSS
When the Catalan viol player Jordi Saval presented three concerts at the Metropolita Museum earlier this month, one musical borde after another seemed to melt away—border between past and present, composition an improvisation, “popular” and “classical,” Eas and West. Centuries-old songs and dance glowed with sadness and jumped for joy. Th sounds of a dozen different nations and thre world religions consorted in a richly believabl utopia. Savall’s first program opened with a tri of far-flung pieces: “Quantas Sabedes Amare, a cantiga by the thirteenth-century Galician poet Martin Codax; “Nastaran,” an instrumental piece from Afghanistan in the naghma genre; and “Noumi, Noumi Yaldatii,” a Hebrew lullaby. Later in the performance, Savall pointed out that the music of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures often features similar or even identical melodic shapes. As he illustrated with a few phrases on his viola da gamba, a sentimental vision of global unity acquired heartbreaking force.
The Met called the series “Celebrating Jordi Savall,” and, amid the usual parade of famous, anonymous maestros, here, finally, was a man worth celebrating. Savall is not only a performer of genius but also a conductor, a scholar, a teacher, a concert impresario (he founded the Hespèrion XXI, Le Concert des Nations, and La Capella Reial de Catalunya ensembles, all of which accompanied him to New York), a record-label director (his is called Alia Vox), a minor film personality (he played on the soundtrack of the 1991 movie “Tous les Matins du Monde”), and the patriarch of a formidable musical family. He was born in Barcelona in 1941, and still lives in the area. With his wavy mane and courtly beard, he could pass for one of El Greco’s more debonair Spanish knights. Part of his mission is to restore the splendor of Iberian musical traditions, which have long been disparaged by the Teutonic mind-set of the classical world. Appropriately enough, Savall performed two of his concerts in the Medieval Sculpture Hall, in front of the great choir screen from Valladolid Cathedral, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were married, in 1469.
When the Catalan viol player Jordi Saval presented three concerts at the Metropolita Museum earlier this month, one musical borde after another seemed to melt away—border between past and present, composition an improvisation, “popular” and “classical,” Eas and West. Centuries-old songs and dance glowed with sadness and jumped for joy. Th sounds of a dozen different nations and thre world religions consorted in a richly believabl utopia. Savall’s first program opened with a tri of far-flung pieces: “Quantas Sabedes Amare, a cantiga by the thirteenth-century Galician poet Martin Codax; “Nastaran,” an instrumental piece from Afghanistan in the naghma genre; and “Noumi, Noumi Yaldatii,” a Hebrew lullaby. Later in the performance, Savall pointed out that the music of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures often features similar or even identical melodic shapes. As he illustrated with a few phrases on his viola da gamba, a sentimental vision of global unity acquired heartbreaking force.
The Met called the series “Celebrating Jordi Savall,” and, amid the usual parade of famous, anonymous maestros, here, finally, was a man worth celebrating. Savall is not only a performer of genius but also a conductor, a scholar, a teacher, a concert impresario (he founded the Hespèrion XXI, Le Concert des Nations, and La Capella Reial de Catalunya ensembles, all of which accompanied him to New York), a record-label director (his is called Alia Vox), a minor film personality (he played on the soundtrack of the 1991 movie “Tous les Matins du Monde”), and the patriarch of a formidable musical family. He was born in Barcelona in 1941, and still lives in the area. With his wavy mane and courtly beard, he could pass for one of El Greco’s more debonair Spanish knights. Part of his mission is to restore the splendor of Iberian musical traditions, which have long been disparaged by the Teutonic mind-set of the classical world. Appropriately enough, Savall performed two of his concerts in the Medieval Sculpture Hall, in front of the great choir screen from Valladolid Cathedral, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were married, in 1469.
Full article at newyorker.com >>>
Posted at 01:38 PM
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Published On: Mar 20, 2007 05:30 PM