Musicians In Ordinary Podcast

'Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls (in England at least), composed by three famous masters: William Byrd, Dr. John Bull and Orlando Gibbons' was probably printed in 1613 probably as part of the celebrations for a royal wedding. MIO's Artistic Director John Edwards talks to keyboardist Louise Hung about pitch and temperament - how early keyboards were not tuned the same way a modern piano is. We then hear Louise Hung perform Gibbons' Fantazia in Four Parts.

'Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls (in England at least), composed by three famous masters: William Byrd, Dr. John Bull and Orlando Gibbons' was probably printed in 1613 probably as part of the celebrations for a royal wedding. MIO's Artistic Director John Edwards talks to Prof. Deanne Williams about the plays by Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher and others, and masque performances during the run up to the marriage of Frederick, Count Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart. We then hear Louise Hung perform music by Bull and Gibbons from the book.

'Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls (in England at least), composed by three famous masters: William Byrd, Dr. John Bull and Orlando Gibbons' was probably printed in 1613. As the chief counsellor in the last years of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign and the first years of James I’s, Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury was at the centre of a web of political patronage, artistic patronage, and a web of spies that seems to have included musicians. John Edwards and Louise Hung talk about Salisbury’s patronage of the arts, especially the art of music, his musical instrument collection and his collection of musicians. At the end of the chat you’ll hear Louise play William Byrd’s Pavana Earl of Salisbury and Galiardo secundo from Parthenia. Further reading: Patronage, Culture and Power: The Early Cecils ed. Pauline Croft and John Dowland by Diana Poulton.

'Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls (in England at least), composed by three famous masters: William Byrd, Dr. John Bull and Orlando Gibbons' was probably printed in 1613. MIO's Artistic Director John Edwards talks to harpsichordist Louise Hung about the terminology of plucked string keyboard instruments in the Elizabethan and Jacobean period, how they make their sound, the association of the virginals with young women in our period and the techniques and fingering which they used and which Louise deploys to get the characteristic sprightly articulation in Mary Brownlow’s Galliard and the spectacular passage work in the prelude by Byrd, both of which you’ll hear at the end of our chat.

Director Heather Davies and theorbo player and artistic director John Edwards chat about the music in John Milton's masque Comus and especially about the dance music of masques in general, and the dances of William Lawes which we used in our production. Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Actor Bethany Jillard chats about playing the part of The Lady, a role first played by Alice Egerton, the teenaged daughter of the Earl of Bridgewater, and the similarities and differences between preparing for this role from John Milton's Comus and her experience playing Shakespeare’s women. Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.As a company member with the Stratford Festival in Canada for five seasons, Bethany’s credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Beaux’ Stratagem, Othello, The Three Musketeers, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Little Years, Dangerous Liaisons and Peter Pan. Regional credits include Othello (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Seagull, After Miss Julie and the world premiere of Gone with the Wind (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); How It Works, The Little Years and Cake and Dirt (Tarragon Theatre); My Name Is Rachel Corrie (Theatre PANIK); A Man of No Importance (Acting Up Stage Company); That Face (Canadian Stage Company/Nightwood Theatre) and Tough! (Factory Theatre). Her film and television credits include If I Were You with Marcia Gay Harden (Paragraph Pictures), Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury Films), Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures (The Movie Network), Rookie Blue (ABC) and I Love You ... But I Lied (Lifetime). She is a graduate of the University of Toronto and The Birmingham Conservatory for classical theatre training. Ms. Jillard moonlights as a singer in the band Notes from Underground alongside her husband, Aaron, who is her rock, her inspiration and her joy.

The second Corant in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. The saraband was a fast vigourous dance when first introduced to the dance suite from the guitar repertoire. We used the Set in F for the dances of the Egerton children in our performance of John Milton's masque Comus. Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

The third Alman in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. We used Lawes' Royal Consort Set 9, a dance suite heavy in Almans, the favourite dance of court masque, as the dances for the Egerton children for our performance of John Milton's domestic masque Comus. Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

The second Alman in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. We used Lawes' Royal Consort Set 9 as the dances for the Egerton children for our performance of John Milton's masque Comus. The Alman or Allemande was the staple dance for Stuart court masques. Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

A Pavan in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. The stately Pavan was used as an entrance dance in the 16th and 17th century and we used this as an 'overture' for our performance of John Milton's Comus. Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

The Antic dances of a masque were performed by professional dancers using preposterous gestures in the guise of some sort of subhuman species such as witches, apes or, in the case of John Milton's Comus, the entourage of the god of revelry 'a rout of monsters like men and women but headed like wild beasts their apparel glistering'. An orphaned piece labelled 'Antic' by William Lawes (1602-1645) exists in a manuscript in two parts, treble and bass - here it is played with inner parts for 2nd violin and bass viol by Christopher Verrette. You will then hear a corant from Lawes' Royal Consort Set No. 5 in D maj. which has held notes in all parts at the beginning calling to mind The Witches' Dance from Macbeth and the Masque of Queens by Robert Johnson of the previous generation of masque music. The Musicians In Ordinary string band is led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo.

John Milton's Comus (Bridgewater manuscript version), with the original songs set by Henry Lawes and dance music by William Lawes, directed by Heather Davies, performed by Roger Honeywell - Attendant Spirit, Paul Hopkins - Comus, Bethany Jillard - The Lady, Tracy Ryan - Elder Brother, Beryl Bain - Second Brother, and Tahirih Vejdani - Sabrina, with The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. (Sc. 1) The scene changes to a stately palace set out with all manner of deliciousness, soft music, tables spread with all dainties. Comus appears with his rabble, and the Lady set in an enchanted chair, to whom he offers his glass; which she puts by, and goes about to rise. (Sc.2) The scene changes, then is presented Ludlow town and the President's castle, then come in country dances, and the like etc. Towards the end of these sports the Dæmon with the 2 brothers and the Lady come in.