Dale Taylor

The Glory of Venice - From Musica Nova to Vivaldi

The Grand Canal in Venice

Piazza San Marco

Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti

Scala del Bovolo

View from a Small Boat in a Canal

Dale Taylor's Comments Concerning the Workshop on August 3, 2002

In accordance with the groups' interests, the program will be based upon the Glory of Venice full weekend workshop.  At the present I'm planning four pieces, of which I expect to really work the first, during which time we can go into a great deal of ensemble technique, interpretive issues, some fundamental counting issues, and the like.  How much depth we get into with the other pieces will depend upon the way the group responds to the first session.  We can work one or two works very thoroughly (as they would be in the big workshop), or we can relax and basically read.  Most of the literature is from my own Dragon Run Press, so copies should not be a big problem. If you wish to obtain copies early, or for the library, I'm including information for them, and numbers for the one Nova print.

• Nicolo Benoist       Ricercare 7 from Musica Nova ATTB(SATB) DRP-RC9 $10.00

• Giovanni Picchi      Canzona 19 "A Doi Chori" SSS(A)B / TTBGBb DRP-PC3 $15.00

• Antonio Vivaldi      Concerto in F, op/ 10 no. 5 AATGB(B) DPP-RC15 $15.00

• Jerome Bassano       Fantasia a 5 #4 SSATB Nova 202 (The Royal Wind Music vol. 11)

The Benoist is a rather long, involved ricercare, with a lot of part-writing detail and good opportunities to shift duple and triple meters, as well as examine some issues in ficta and the like.

The Picchi is unusual both for its high / low choirs (with matching textures), and for the fact that the two top sopranos in the high choir get to do some fairly typical early baroque trio sonata figuration (for the more advanced players), so we can look at that style without going totally to a more soloistic format. There are several ties to issues I'll bring up in the Benoist.  The great bass is necessary, if we don't have any other 8' bass, such as a viol.  I will bring at least one, maybe two (if I haven't sold the other first, looking unlikely), and have parts written as a tenor part for those who don't read c fingerings in bass clef.

The Vivaldi is the most approachable of his opus 10 concerti, quite beautiful without being virtuostic.  Despite the fact that the opus 10s were probably intended for the amateur market, this is the one most approachable for today's typical players. It allows us to spend some time on high baroque performance style and issues, if there is interest. The great bass is not really necessary, although it does richen the texture significantly. Last movement a bit thin for the tenor and bass, so we might just read it for a good upbeat ending.

The Bassano provides a look in from outside.  It is from the branch of that family which settled in England as court recorder players.  The fantasia we'll do harks back to the Benoist in several ways, and may well be contemporary, as well as originally for recorders.

If we do all of this, we'll have a full 4 hours or so. If there are problems with any of this literature (including the fact one work does not allow for a soprano part), please let me know so I can arrange substitutions.

As for the rest, I'll attempt to be available for repairs and lessons before the session, during the breaks (except part or all of lunch) and afterwards, and can handle local repairs and lessons during the rest of my stay in the area.