EarlyMusicNews.Org

“Could the gentle Bard have been a thug? A scholar's discovery in the British Archives adds a different stroke to the portrait of one of the most admired but least-known men in English letters”. The article also points to the status of entertainment theaters of the day. (ed.)
  

A stirring evening that will touch your soul !
In collaboration with the Montreal Bach Festival 2011

Guest Conductor: Jaap ter Linden (Holland)
Soloist:  Meg Bragle, alto (United States)
Lecturer : Carol Bergeron

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas BWV 54 and 170, Brandenburg Concerto no 3, BWV 1048, Oboe concerto adapted from BWV 1056.
  

For those of you who are interested in recorder programmes, the Blok Amsterdam Facebook site has been updated with a new fresh set of photos. You may also see previous sets of photos that may also be of interest.
   

“One of the great things about the San Francisco Early Music Society’s concert series is that it gives exposure to emerging ensembles and new collaborations. On Saturday at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, I heard the Baroque Band, a Chicago string ensemble formed in 2007 by violinist Garry Clarke.
  

A picture is worth a thousand words and more. The Festes de Thalie website has added a selection of photos now available on their webpages. Soon to come, some sound clips from the Agrémens concert of October 22 and 23, 2011. You may either let the photos scroll at their own pace or click through with your mouse button at your own pace. A well-worth visit.
  

From the “British Library - Document Supply News, November 2011 Newsletter” which may be of interest to early music research.

“52,000 full text theses now available for immediate download

At the start of 2011 EThOS moved to become a shared service delivered by the British Library on behalf of Higher Education. A new Governing Board was set up, and a new business model developed to bring improvements and enhancements to the current service.
  

(Although not directly related to early music, perhaps of interest of early music research.)

“Examine this fundamental question with four free articles selected by the Archaeological Dialogues Editors.

“ … he (Davitt Moroney)  takes listeners on a marathon musical journey, performing the complete set of Bach's timeless French Suites, BWV 812–17—a unique opportunity to hear all of this magnificent music in one sitting.
  

“The recent release of the film Anonymous prompted heated discussion about who wrote Shakespeare's plays. James Shapiro tackled this question in his book Contested Will, which definitively portrays "the man from Stratford" as the official playwright. In an interview with Shapiro, Folger Education Director Bob Young asked why this controversy still sticks, and gets tips for talking with (classroom) students about who wrote Shakespeare's plays.“ …
   

The latest GEMS newsletter is out, and, of note on these pages, you will find the results of the GEMS new board of directors and listing of events in the New York area. The newsletter is published twice monthly and shows the vibrancy of the early music community in New York.
   

In their latest newsletter, Ensemble Céladon advises us of the following upcoming concerts: 

06 December 
Boutique Harmonia Mundi, 21 rue Edouard Herriot, Lyon 1
Start of the 2012 Concert Season
With the musicians of the Céladon and Epsilon ensembles

07 December
Chapelle du Sacré-Coeur, 38 rue Pierre Dupont, Lyon 1
“Stella Orientalis, un Noël à la Renaissance”
Clara Coutouly, soprano ; Paulin Bündgen, counter-tenor ; Nolwenn Le Guern, viola da gamba
Wanda Kozyra, lute
   

Dear Handel House supporter,

I wanted to inform you that the date for the postponed talk with John Greenacombe was incorrectly advertised in our November enewsletter as 8 November and it will actually take place on Wednesday 8 February 2012 as part of Handel House's annual Stanley Sadie Lecture.
  

“‘Erotic oratorio’ is the odd-sounding definition devised by modern scholars, such as Howard E. Smither, for those pious music dramas employing sex-laden plots from the Bible, the Apocrypha or the lives of Saints in order to give the audience moral instruction in a quasi-operatic, if generally unstaged, form. …“
  

In partnership with the Instituto Cervantes de Toulouse, Jean-Marc Andrieu invites Carles Magraner and the whole of Capella Ministrers

Commemorative program for the 400th anniversary of the death of the composer Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611). For over twenty years of the Ensemble la Capella de Ministrers has taken an important place in the national and international music scene …

“Most kids are familiar with the violin, cello and piano. But have they ever heard their instrumental predecessors, a Baroque violin, viola da gamba, or harpsichord? …
  

Tempesta di Mare Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra

This is Volume 2 in Chandos’ series of orchestral works by Johann Friedrich Fasch, a contemporary of J.S. Bach and Telemann. In his day, his output in terms of cantatas, concertos, symphonies, and chamber music was performed extensively across the German-speaking world, and Fasch was held in great esteem by Bach who owned copies of six of his orchestral suites, and arranged at least one of his piano trio sonatas for organ.
  

For those interested in the following discount offer:

“Tafelmusik celebrates the release of its 78th recording, BACH: Tafelmusik and Daniel Taylor.   Until midnight on November 11th, get 30% off any Tafelmusik title with Analekta with the promo code TAFEL.  Make your selection now!“
  

Also, Call for Papers, Lecture-recitals, and Mini-recitals (Deadline: 2 Dec 2011)

The website for Antiqua/Nova: Celebrating the Harpsichord Across the Centuries, the 2012 Joint Meeting and Festival of the Midwestern and Southeastern Historical Keyboard Societies, is now up and running at historicalkeyboardsociety.org. The 5-day event will be held at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, March 21-25, 2012, and promises to be a rich experience. The theme of this celebration, featuring The Eighth Aliénor International Harpsichord Composition Competition and The Seventh Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition, will be the harpsichord old and new.
  

The following is a list of concerts occurring in the Washington DC area:

November 13 in Washington DC
The Vivaldi Project
Conversations Among Friends: An Afternoon of Trio Sonatas

November 19 in Bethesda
November 20 in Chinatown
Collegium Cantorum: Canon of the Mass

November 26 in Fairfax
Chanticleer
  

“BIS is proud to announce the signing of an exclusive recording contract with the male vocal quartet New York Polyphony. 

Male classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony, who received international acclaim with the CDs I sing the birth (2007) and Tudor City (2010), has signed an exclusive recording contract with BIS Records.
  

Tuesday 8 November, 10-6pm

Handel House opens its doors on its anniversary day. Join us on this special occasion, free of charge, to visit the house, see our exhibitions, and listen to music which will be performed throughout the day.
    

(Originally broadcast on November 6th 2011, *** this podcast will remain available on the BBC site for only for the next 6 days. ***) 

“As part of Radio 3's month long celebration of Symphony, the Early Music Show traces the early history. Catherine Bott reflects on the trail-blazing work of the pioneering symphonists of the 18th century such as …”
  

(From the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women (SSEMW) mailing list)

The Attingham Trust for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections is an educational charitable trust offering specialised study courses for people professionally engaged in the field of historic houses, their collections and settings including the history and contents of English Royal Palaces.  These courses offer a good way to investigate the living and collecting activities of English nobility and royalty.  Note that there is financial aid.
    

“Luciano Pavarotti died in September 2007, just short of his 72nd birthday and only a few years after his last performance at the Metropolitan Opera, in Tosca.