All correspondence for Chorus Angelorum should go to Ed Franklin's attention at 1400 Hermann Dr, #12C, Houston TX 77004

Summer Residency at Canterbury Cathedral in UK:
July 7 - 11, 2008

Past Workshops:

Remembering 2007

Remembering 2005

Remembering 2003

Chorus Angelorum hosted its third biennial choral workshop, “Trendall Tutors Tallis” from Thursday, June 23 - Sunday, June 26, 2005, at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church-Anglican Use, Houston, Texas.

David Trendell, an authority on stylistic interpretation and performance practices of English Renaissance church music, lead the workshop. The music spans most of the 16th century and included English and Continental contemporaries of Thomas Tallis (circa 1505 - 1585).

60 participants joined Mr. Trendell, Chapel Organist and Music Head at King’s College, London, in a unique opportunity to take the manuscripts of these great masters and bring their sacred music to life.

The Choral Workshop included rehearsals with David Trendell and a professional solo quartet from St. Bartholomew the Great, London, who presented a solo concert of sacred Tudor music, the Golden Age of Church Music in England. Participants sang choral evensong, followed by a concert

Location of Workshop and Concert:

Our Lady of Walsingham

Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church-Anglican Use at 7809 Shadyvilla Lane, near the intersection of Westview and Wirt, just north of I-10, Katy Freeway.

For more information contact Ed Franklin, Artistic Director: 713-527-8261 or E-mail: themaxbef@gmail.com

Ed Franklin's reflections on the 2003 Workshop:
The Marriage of England and Spain

 

PRESS RELEASE

CHORUS ANGELORUM
Choral Evensong
Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Solemn Evensong 4 PM

Introit: Mihi autem nimis Thomas Tallis
Preces & Responses: Orlando Gibbons & John Barnard
Psalm 103 Anglican Chant
Mag & Nunc: Evening Service for Verses John Heath
Anthem: Ne irascaris William Byrd

FACT SHEET

WHAT: Evensong
WHEN: March 16, 2008
at 4:00
WHERE: Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church - Anglican Use 7809 Shadyvilla Lane (1 mile North of I-10 on Wirt Road)
ADMISSION: Free
CONTACT: Ed Franklin, Musical Director 713/527-8261 themaxbef@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE

WHAT: Solemn Choral Evensong  by Chorus Angelorum

WHEN:  March 16, 2008 at 4:00

WHERE: Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church – Anglican Use

                    7809 Shadyvilla Lane

                    (1 mile North of I-10 on Wirt Road)

ADMISSION: Free

CONTACT: Ed Franklin, Musical Director

                             713/527-8261

                             themaxbef@gmail.com

WEBSITE: www.chorusangelorum.org

MUSICAL PROGRAM:

          INTROIT: Mihi autem nimis            Thomas Tallis

                    “How dear are thy counsels unto me, O God”

          PRECES and                                     Orlando Gibbons

RESPONSES                                 John Barnard

          SERVICE MUSIC (Magnificat and Nunc dimittis)

                    Verse Service                            John Heath

          ANTHEM: Ne irascaris                            William Byrd

                    “Be not wroth very sore, O Lord”

Comments:  While both Byrd and Tallis composed many anthems in English to accommodate the “new religion” during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I; however, they were recusant Catholics, meaning that while they publically embraced the reformed liturgy in English, they continued to practice the older Catholic liturgy in secret, and composed many notable anthems in Latin for such gatherings.

          Otherwise musically prolific, Gibbons composed only one set of opening prayers (Preces) for the Daily Offices.  His contemporary, John Barnard, likewise is represented by only one setting of the responding (Responses) prayers.  Under these circumstances, it seems only logical to pair the two.

            John Heath was the organist at Rochester Cathedral from 1649-1668, and this Verse Service is a remarkably beautiful example of this largely unfamiliar English composer.   

         

EVENSONG  NEXT:  April 27  at 4:00      

Canterbury Tales
Dinner Gala

An evening of Cocktails, Music, Feasting, prepared by Byron Franklin Catering, a theatrical production of selected Canterbury Tales, and an Auction benefiting Chorus Angelorum

Sunday, February 3, 2008,
5 - 8 PM Saint Jude’s Hall

Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church – Anglican Use
7800 Shadyvilla Lane, Houston, Texas 77055

Knight’s Table $5,000

Reeve’s Table $2,500

Squire’s Table $1,000

Physician’s Table $500

Monk’s/Nun’s Seat $45

Peasant’s Seat $35

FACT SHEET: G&T—Gibbons and Tomkins
"and a good time was had by all"

WHO: CHORUS ANGELORUM
WHAT: Biennial Tudor Music Workshops
WHEN: June 27 - July 1, 2007
WHERE: Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church - Anglican Use
7809 Shadyvilla Lane at Wirt Road
(Office: 713. 683.8487)
CONTACT: Ed Franklin (713) 527-8261 Musical Director
Website: www.chorusangelorum.org
e-mail: themaxbef@gmail.com

 

 

Tallis Well-tutored: A Remembrance
by Ed Franklin, Director

 

Almost from the moment we bade farewell to David Trendell and his troupe following our Tudor music workshop, The Marriage of England and Spain, in 2003, than we started planning for whatever would be the offering for Chorus Angelorum’s third biennial Tudor music workshop in the summer of 2005. We hadn’t let David get on the plane without a commitment from him to once again return as our leader to further explore the greatness of the music of the English Reformation. The prospects of having another opportunity to work with David, who so willingly and humourously shares his vast knowledge of the music of that period with us, always generates a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm for such a project, especially when we began sorting out the plans right on the heels of his departure from our midst. He and I agreed that since 2005 would mark the 500th birthday of one of the greatest of all composers and a real star of the Tudor period, Thomas Tallis, our theme would focus on his music. That decision also made it a no-brainer to come up with the name for our workshop: Trendell Tutors Tallis.

Transforming a concept such as this into a reality takes countless hours of organizational meetings…………..and funds! Non-profit organizations always encounter the ever- present boogieman when it comes to finances, primarily because there are usually none on hand. This year we had two windfalls come our way. Mary Neeley Stevens, a singer in the Chorus and a longtime friend, and her husband, Hubert, generously offered a vintage Mustang as a fund-raising raffle prize, and our constant friend and guardian angel, Suzanne Nowotny made several significant contributions towards the realization of our project. For the first time in our brief history, we went into the preparations for the workshop with enough funds to remove the stress usually associated with such plans, and it was obvious to all of us working on the various details how much easier it was this time because the funds were available to see that our expenses would be covered.

Chorus Angelorum has been blessed with members who have always been more than willing to put hours and hours on the line while getting ready for such a huge undertaking as a workshop which involves international travel arrangements and housing for 5 people for a week, in addition to the meals and special treats throughout the workshop for the participants. The task of making all those arrangements fell upon the shoulders of Martha Schuller, an experienced alto and a crackerjack travel agent and organizer. Martha possess that unique gene which thinks of organizational details before the rest of us even have a clue that there are details to be organized. There were times when I thought that I was really on top of everything when I would approach her with something I had thought about, and she always said, “I’ve already ordered those totes and we’ll have them in two days.” It would not have happened without her help and ability to “take charge” of almost any situation.

Don’t let me give the impression that it was a one-woman show, because many others stepped up to the plate when it was time to do just that. Paul Downs, our lead tenor, is a most talented graphics designer, a real genie. No sooner had I told him about my idea for a theme than he had the concept-design worked out for all of the pieces we would need for the workshop: poster design, mailer, tote bags, name tags, and T-shirts. Another tenor, Susan Converse, ably took charge of our finances and really managed our checkbook. At any time she would supply us with any documentation needed as to what had been paid and what our balance was right then. We had never had such financial service, and it was exceptional, that’s for sure. As I have already said, there was hardly a need to ask anyone to take up a particular yoke because everyone was entirely focused on having the best workshop ever. I don’t think there is a question among all of the singers that that goal wasn’t entirely accomplished. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank those ladies from Our Lady of Walsingham who helped serve our food and set-up snacks for our breaks, in addition to orchestrating a superb “tea” after the closing evensong.

There were 56 singer participants this past summer, a record thus far. The lion’s share were from Houston and many were repeat participants. Out-of-towners included a soprano from west Texas, an alto from Texarkana, and a couple from San Antonio. One alto enrolled for herself and two of her teenaged children. What a coup that was! And speaking of children, we had six participants under the age of 12. Granted, it’s very taxing for the young ones to keep up with the pace of the rehearsals and remain focused, but these young singers did an excellent job doing both.

David was brilliant! He taught us fantastic examples of the music of Mr Tallis, many of them unknown to us previously, and in that particular environment of doing something that we all love to do, to the point of being passionate about it, we grew as singers. I heard so many singers say that they had never sung better in their lives, and that seemed to be a shared response with everyone there. Once again, I asked David to bring a quartet of professional singers with him to act as section leaders within the chorus, and this was an awesome group of singers. One of the most valuable lessons learned was having the opportunity to watch these young and talented singers ply their craft; because of their training, they did exactly what David had been teaching us all to do in those few days, and one could see his point made plain. Besides that, they sang on a live broadcast from KUHF, our local Public Radio station, sang a concert on Saturday evening at Our Lady of Walsingham, and sang a most beautiful mass at Our Lady of Walsingham on Sunday morning. In addition to all of that, they were the most fun to have in our midst, too. What a treat!

How does one follow such greatness? Well, David has agreed to return to Houston in 2007, and that’s excellent news for us. However, since the Chorus has a choral residency in July 2006, at Durham Cathedral, England, we’ve sort of put the next workshop on simmer for a while. Never fear; we have debriefed already, but we’ve not started to cook just yet.

Ed Franklin

 

Chorus Angelorum and friends during the Summer 2003 Workshop under the direction of David Trendell

Ed Franklin, Artistic Director for Chorus Angelorum, looks back at our 2003 Summer Workshop.

he summer is but a cloud of smoke and a series of memories of trips, time with families, and the tremendous sultry Gulf Coast heat. For Chorus Angelorum members and a host of other singers, it was a time for the Chorus’s second bi-annual summer choral workshop, lead once again by David Trendell, Department Head and Chapel Organist and Lecturer at King’s College, London. David also reigns over the music at London’s historic, and oldest surviving church, St. Bartholomew the Great. As in the past he was accompanied by a quartet of professional singers from St. Barts, who would sing a concert during the workshop as well as act as chorus section leaders during rehearsals throughout the week.

In 2001, the Board of Directors of Chorus Angelorum embarked on the notion of presenting a choral workshop in alternate years, open to other singers as well, and taking place in mid-summer, using as the overall theme, [William] Byrd and his Tudor Friends. That David Trendell was asked to lead this workshop was no surprise because he is a leading authority on English music from this period. It was decided that he should also bring a quartet of singers with him to demonstrate the particular musical style one needs when trying to sing, as accurately as possible, the music from the 16th century, often referred to as the Golden Age of English Polyphonic Music. That first time we had twenty-nine participants, and as predicted, everyone lucky enough to be there left thoroughly enriched by the experience, energized as only an emersion in music can do, and totally engaged with David’s knowledge of the subject and with his witty style of direction and leadership.

Knowing that the next workshop would be only two years away and knowing that time has a way of sneaking up on us, I immediately asked David to repeat his performance once again in Houston. The workshop was set for July 9-13, and after taking an oblique change of direction when selecting the music, we decided on yet another Tudor theme: The Marriage of England and Spain and the Reign of Queen Mary and Philip II of Spain. The general program was expanded quite a lot in that one full day was added to the schedule, running from Wednesday evening through Evensong on Sunday. In order to increase the depth of the musical experiences available, I invited the brilliant English organist, Simon Nieminski, recitalist, Pro Organo recording artist and Assistant Organist at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, to offer a series of Master Classes for organists, play a recital and to play for the closing Evensong service. It seemed appropriate then to offer a series of classes geared to music education teachers, and with that in mind, Phyllis King Braund was invited to teach two sessions on the Kodály teaching method. St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church once again generously offered to host the event, making available the necessary rehearsal facilities and food services for our group.

That is the history and the nuts-and-bolts process as to how we arrived at the second Tudor music workshop for 2003. This past summer we had forty-nine participants and, as predicted, David cast his spell over the singers and set the overall tone as to the level of musical performance expected from everyone. Because of the broad scope and the various possibilities made available by the title of the workshop, David chose a very ambitious program for the singers, drawing his selections from familiar English composers, such as Tallis, Tomkins and Byrd, as well as relatively unfamiliar composers from the Continent, such as Morales, Rogier, Monte, Guerrero and Lheritier. Because the workshop was conceived within the framework of Evening Prayer, using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, service music – Preces and Responses and the Evening Canticles –and an Anglican chant setting of a Psalm were added to the musical list.

When all was said and done, everyone was completely mesmerized by David’s skill at teaching the challenging music, not only the notes, but also the various styles needed to fully understand the different pieces. Having the solo quartet in the group acting as section leaders was once again a huge success. Being such exceptional singers created a slight danger in that the other participants could have been tempted to sit back and bask in the soloists’ sounds, but this didn’t happen. The schedule, while demanding, was punctuated by great meals served by the Women of St. Thomas’, and the various breaks within the rehearsal sessions were carefully engineered by choristers Martha Schuller, Susan Jones and Alys Dyke, tossing out gag gifts and favors for everyone; there was never a dull moment whether singing or on breaks. The pace was fast, always engaging, and at the end of it all, everyone was riding the wave of musical renewal while asking “when are we going to do this again?”.

While the closing Choral Evensong was the high point of the workshop, a “graduation” of sorts, bringing all of the week’s efforts to a close, the concerts on Friday and Saturday nights by the guest artists represented benchmarks for the musical styles that had received so much attention during rehearsals throughout the week. One participant remarked after hearing the quartet’s concert that watching them sing and hearing how they sang the phrases was the best example of everything that had been discussed, or implied, all week long. Shaking his head he said, “That was the best lesson of all.” Another seasoned singer told me that she had sung, and heard, Byrd’s Ave verum many times, but “I’ve never heard anything like that. It’s exactly how you feel it should be sung, and that’s all you can say about it.” The four singers were: Becky Hickey, soprano; Abigail Smetham, alto; Julian Woodward, tenor; and Maurice McSweeney, bass. They all reside in London and are part of the professional octet at St. Bartholomew the Great, London.

Organist Simon Nieminski played a concert of music from his most recent CD recording featuring transcriptions for organ of music from the opera. The whimsy of this concert exploited his tremendous technical skills and his unparalleled ability to fully use the various colors available on an organ.

So what’s next? Well, we are committed to the next workshop in 2005, and two weeks after we waved farewell to our English friends, we met to debrief what had been and to begin cultivating what will be. How great is that?

Copyright 2001 - 2008 Chorus Angelorum All Rights ReservedEd Franklin, Artistic Director.
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