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OAE Brass on ‘In Tune’

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On Wednesday evening brass soloists of the OAE appeared on Radio 3′s In Tune programme, ahead of their concert this evening at Kings Place. While on the programme they played some of the music featured in the concert and also talked to host Petroc Trelawny about it and their instruments. You can view a picture of them in the studio here. As you’ll see, a rogue percussionist sneaked in…You can listen to us on the programme here – it’s about 14.30 into the show. Join them tonight at Kings Place to hear the concert (8.45pm) – and there’s even a free performance afterwards, in the brass section’s natural habitat – the bar.

Caption Competition: Tell us why Zen isn’t looking very, er, Zen and win tickets to Baroque. Contrasted.

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Angry ZenWhen we did our ‘Green’ picture a while back we saw afterwards that on one of the shots we took our Digital Content Officer, Zen, had a particularly angry/shocked expression on his face…unusual for him given that, as his name suggests, he’s a particularly calm person.

Anyway – what do you think is on the piece of paper he seems to be reading? Or, what’s he thinking of saying? Post your suggestions here and our favourites will receive a pair of tickets to their choice of one of the following events this weekend at Kings Place:

Saturday 9 April at 12.30pm: Sing Baroque! Join OAE Co-Principal Keyboard Steven Devine to sing music by Purcell

Sunday 10 April at 11.30am: Coffee Concert with the OAE Experience Ensemble, directed by Alison Bury – music by Telemann, Boyce, Purcell and Handel.

Deadline for entries is 9pm tomorrow evening.

Baroque. Contrasted: final Daily Trivia

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It’s the last day of our hugely exciting trivia section… *sob*

Here are the final titbits for your musical pleasure:

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630) was a German composer of the early Baroque era and was afflicted with poor health- his wife died in childbirth; four of his five children died in infancy; he died at age 44, having suffered from tuberculosis, gout, scurvy and a kidney disorder.

Hugh Aston (1485-1558) was an English composer of the early Tudor period. His initial salary at The Newarke (a musical institution in Leicester) was £10 a year, only £2 a year less than that of the Dean. Listen to his Hornpype (which we’re playing on Friday) here.

William Brade (1560-1630) was an English composer, violinist, and viol player of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras and liked to change jobs frequently- during his career, he moved 13 times!

If you’d like to hear more music from these composers, why not try one of our hour-long concerts at Kings Place?

Concerts start tomorrow night from 6.45pm and more details can be found on our website.

Matthew Truscott on Purcell’s emotional depths and Handel’s borderline smugness

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Now you get to hear from a player rather than just office bods! In this latest vid OAE leader Matthew Truscott talks about the concert he has devised and is directing at Kings Place on 9 April, – a programme which features Purcell, Bach and Handel, including how the concert fits into the Baroque. Contrasted. theme of the festival.

Next up, another round of Baroque trivia.



Baroque. Contrasted: Daily Trivia 3

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As promised, here’s another dose of daily trivia for you, featuring some of the lesser known composers we’ll be showcasing this week at Kings Place:

Biagio Marini (1594-1663) was an Italian virtuoso violinist and composer of the first half of the seventeenth century who married three times and had five children.  He was the first composer to notate tremolo (trembling) effects into his music.

Francisco Correa de Araujo (1584-1654) was a notable Spanish organist, composer, and theorist of the late Renaissance as well as a priest.

Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594), a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, was rumoured to have been kidnapped three times because of the singular beauty of his singing voice.

More random facts tomorrow!

OAE staff natter about Baroque. Contrasted.

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We let three OAE office staff loose on camera to talk about our concerts at Kings Place this week – and here are the results. There is some logic to this as the staff have all been closely involved not just with co-ordinating running and marketing the events but also with devising some of the more unusual events, such as Barqoue from Scratch and Sing Baroque! Have a watch and do come along this week – and if you recognise us from the video do come and say hello! Next up is another video with OAE leader Matthew Truscott talking about the programme of Bach, Purcell and Handel he has devised for the festival.



Baroque. Contrasted: Daily Trivia 2

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Some more baroque trivia in the run up to our concerts at Kings Place this week. You can hear music from all the composers featured during our hour-long concerts this Thursday and Friday.

Tarquinio Merula (1594/5-1665) got into trouble with some of his students at a musical institution in Bergamo, and was charged with indecency. Listen to his Chiacona which features in Thursday’s concert

Giovanni Zamboni – whose exact dates are unknown –  was an accomplished composer for the theorbo as well as a jewel-maker and fine swordsman!

Bendinelli (1542-1617) was the author of the first known course of published trumpet lessons, Tutta L’arte Della Trombetta which gathered together the earliest known pieces for the clarino (higher) register, dating from 1584-88.

More trivia tomorrow, and we’ll be testing you all on Saturday!

Baroque. Contrasted: Daily Trivia

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Next week sees the start of our mini-festival at Kings Place, Baroque. Contrasted.

We kick off on 6 April with 5 days of concerts, talks, demonstrations and two chances to join the OAE.  Most of the composers we’ll be featuring should be pretty familiar- Vivaldi, Purcell, Bach-  but we’re also showcasing some of the lesser-known but equally brilliant artists of the time.

Ahead of the opening night, we thought we’d give you a bit of daily trivia on some of these mysterious musicians…

Gottfried Finger (1660-1730) left London in a hurry in 1701 after allegedly being Baroque Contrastedunjustly passed over for a composition prize. He financed his departure with the sale of a set of trio sonatas, of which Op 5 No.10 (which we play on 7 April) is unusually scored for recorder, cello (or bassoon) and continuo.

Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682) was murdered in Genoa just months after penning the wedding cantata Il Barcheggio, probably after an unwitting controversy over a woman (who preferred him to another man – the likely murderer).

Dario Castello (1590-?) has no biographical information at all; even his birth and death dates are unknown, although it is thought he may have died during the great plague of 1630. He was probably associated with St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, where Claudio Monteverdi was maestro di capella.

For more info on the festival, including a free flippable brochure and details of how to book, visit oae.co.uk/kingsplace

Next time…find out why composer Merula got into trouble…

Baroque. Contrasted: Playlists

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Baroque Contrasted imageNext week we go Baroque crazy with our festival at Kings Place,  an action-packed five days of concerts, talks, workshops and more. We’re playing some music from the big names of the Baroque, but the Thursday and Friday concerts also contain a few rarities. Any fans of the composer Finger here? Or William Williams?

Well, over the next few days we’re going to be posting up some potted facts about these lesser-known composers, and we’ve also put some playlists together for you on Spotify, so you can preview some of the music. We’ll also try and find some Youtube links for those of you who aren’t using Spotify yet.

Here are the Spotify links – enjoy!

Listen to highlights from the hour-long concerts on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 April here

Listen to highlights from the 7.30pm concert on Saturday 9 April here

 

Baroque. Contrasted: Staff picks 2

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Here are a few more staff choices from our Baroque. Contrasted. festival next week at Kings Place:

I’m really looking forward to next week’s events because there’s SO much variety. It’s hard to pick a favourite but starting my Sunday with cup of coffee and some beautiful baroque music sounds pretty appealing to me; I also like the idea of being one of the first to hear the future OAE players.

Isabelle Tawil, Development Manager

Anything with the words coffee and Handel is definitely up my ally. I like the idea of a Sunday morning coffee with the OAE at the Coffee Concert. I’m also excited to get my Purcell groove on in the Sing Baroque event, what a great excuse to sing in public without an out of tune rendition of Whitney Houston.

Georgina Cooksley, Intern

Baroque Strings because it has the theorbo in it and I want to see what all the fuss is about, or maybe Reflections on the Grand Tour to see and hear what sackbuts are like.

Dipu Yonjan, Finance Officer

During the next week we’ll be posting up some playlists so you can get acquainted with the music ahead of the concerts, as well as telling you a little more about some of the more unusual composers featured. You can find out more about the festival with our virtual brochure here.