TVEMF now owns the domain name TVEMF.org which should allow us to avoid the pain of moving our Web site from one domain to another every couple of years as has happened in the past. There are also some impersonal but fairly memorable e-mail addresses that can be used to send e-mail to the Tamesis editor and the officers of the Forum:

tamesistvemf.org
chairmantvemf.org
secretarytvemf.org
treasurertvemf.org

The idea is to be able to redirect them to the appropriate person's real e-mail address, so they will still arrive if the e-mail address changes or another person takes over. The new TVEMF Web site is at www.TVEMF.org and I hope it will be enhanced somewhat over the next few weeks. When publishing e-mail addresses in web pages there is a danger that they will be spotted by programs collecting addresses for sending junk e-mails. I have circumvented this by replacing the symbol wherever it occurs on the web pages with a small image of an rather than using text. Beware therefore if you copy such an address to the clipboard - the will disappear!

By the time you read this the Baroque Day will have happened, but there is still time to sign up for the Christmas event. We could (as always) use more tenors and will have to limit the number of sopranos unless more sign up. Lest I should be accused of curtalism I should mention that the omission of curtals from the list of acceptable instruments was entirely accidental!

Until quite recently I was still hearing affectionate reminiscences of the Monteverdi Vespers weekend which Philip ran for us almost exactly two years before this event. The Forum has now repeated its good fortune by asking Philip to lead us through the Florentine Intermedi of 1589.

Intermedi are interludes, and such pieces were used to punctuate a variety of events - stage-plays, processions, tournaments, banquets and other festivities. These six particular ones were performed to frame the five acts of a spoken comedy - Bargagli’s La Pellegrina - at the wedding of Ferdinando de’ Medici and Christine, daughter of Charles, Duke of Lorraine in Florence. Although some sort of interlude was common in various European festivities, the 1589 Intermedi are historically important as their use of stage action and stage machinery make them virtually miniature operas, out of which the the opera tradition was to grow within a decade. They are also among the few works of this kind whose music was published in full, and still survives. As recordings were not possible in those days, the equivalent in terms of marketing campaigns was to mark the occasion by sending out programmes, scores and colourful descriptions of the proceedings to impress all and sundry.

As usual, Philip came with a plan of exactly how he would start, and very quickly a jumbled mass of people, instruments and music stands were organised into sections. "We need a choir over here and another over here, but sopranos must be semi-quaver compatible". "I think we’re a baritone short of a chorus".

Each intermedio consists of several pieces of music variously including choruses, solos, ensembles, and instrumental passages. It was impossible to cover everything within a weekend, so Philip tried to give us the flavour of the works by picking groups of pieces from one intermedio at a time and setting the scene to provide the context. The staging had been extremely elaborate, and he treated us to descriptions which included views of Pisa and Rome, grottos and sylvan glades, mountains rising and Sirens, Fates, and Muses descending on clouds. At one point we thought we spotted David Fletcher descending on a cloud, but it turned out he was trying to stop the urn from boiling over in the kitchen.

We sang and played choruses from Intermedio I entitled "The Harmony of the Spheres", which, apart from involving Necessity holding the spindle of the cosmos between her knees, consisted of dedications to the royal lovers from the Fates, Sirens and Planets involving flowers, pearls and rubies, the waves and shores of the Arno, and sun, moon and stars intertwining on their brows. In order to improve the interpretation we were encouraged to sing "Ah" with our mouths in landscape (not portrait) format, to make it stylish by adding, well, phrasing for a start, and to crescendo without changing pitch. At this stage it was "Very good - well, I say very good. That’s not what I mean".

From Intermedio II - "The Singing Contest" - we only heard the Three Graces - Jill Caudle, Pat Stewart and Johanna Renouf, who were encouraged to flirt and tell us how beautiful they all were and how therefore, in a wonderful non-sequitur, they were the obvious choices for judges. "Beauty was given us by Nature and, since beauty responds to harmony, true judgement of harmony was instilled in us". Needless to say they were very convincing.

We performed the whole of Intermedio III - "Apollo slays the Python". In the instrumental battle scene Philip wanted to increase the effect by having people improvise around and particularly to syncopate the strong rhythmic chords, or rather chord, as there was only the one ("death by C major"), but found them curiously reluctant to syncopate. This was dubbed "Music to kill dragons by", and then, as music was being passed amongs the choir for the next piece "Music to pass music around by". The idea must have sunk in somewhere though, as later someone asked "What Philip? As written?" and was told "Yes, let’s take this one step at a time".

Intermedio IV covered prophecy and contrasted joy from the heavenly spirits (that the two great souls are united) with the terrors of hell. Time unfortunately was against us hearing Anne Graf’s Sorceress, a great pity, but Jill and a group of players successfully banished the Demons - wretched dwellers in darkest hell.

In Intermedio V, where Arion is saved by the Dolphin, Julia Raeburn as Amphitrite came from her fortress in the bosom of the sea to bend before the royal pair in a very florid and beautifully executed solo. There followed a Sinfonia with plenty of scope for special effects as sailors pounced on Arion, who dives into the waves to escape. Geoff Huntingford, as Arion, sang of his suffering in a highly decorated manner, with accompanying echoes.

In the final Intermedio VI, Rhythm and Harmony descend to earth, and I, as Jove, had the task of entreating the multitude of mortals to rejoice. They responded with gladness and hope that "on wings unbounded from one Pole to another shall fly the fame of his [Ferdinand’s] great name".

Throughout we were encouraged to enjoy and emphasise the wordpainting and the mood, vocally and instrumentally. "A slightly detectable feeling of joy please on ‘gioia’". "Bowed strings near the bridge, preferably the right side of it … and wind, not near the bridge, but near the knuckle". Players were asked for wide trills, "hideously uncontrolled" (and obliged) and a similar vocal device was nicknamed the goat’s trill. As always, voices and instruments alike had to ignore barlines and play the rhythm of the words (and Philip may be surprised at how often his name is invoked in this respect when more than two early musicians are gathered together).

There was something for everyone. Even for the solo and ensemble pieces we were all drawn in as they were used as discussion points to explain the compositional approach. Several of the solos were organised as a single elaborately-decorated part - not necessarily the top line - within an otherwise simple madrigal composition. The greatest technical difficulty for the soloists in these numbers was the contrast between the original, basically minim, tempo held by the other (instrumental) parts and the range of speeds in the solo line from semibreves to demi-semiquavers. Geoff wishes now that he had taken up Philip's offer of a quick private run-through before the public airing of Arion's lament. Not that he did not know the notes and the words. However, a single bar containing one crotchet and fifty-six demi-semiquavers in a minim tempo more brisk than seriously imagined requires a completely different approach from a complex run from a Bach or Handel aria. He applauds the long-suffering and really excellent continuo section for bravely trying to stay with him!

Finally, we now all know Philip’s desert island word - "dunque", probably spelt Dhhhoooonnn’…….qu’ ehhhhhhh - he says it has everything you need. Many thanks to him for a wonderful weekend, and to Vicky who worked hard to set it all up.

This Durham summer school, founded in 1971 by the inimitable Layton Ring and still directed - inimitably - by him, has characteristics of the kind that favour viability. Many students who return year after year and make a friendly company; superb situation; tolerable accommodation; very tolerable (licensed) catering; and a generously large team of efficient and very individual tutors which changes little over the years. Finally, and importantly, it moves with the times.

NORVIS was originally the Northumbrian Recorder and Viol School, typical of a period remembered affectionately but not uncritically in my little 'History' of the Viola da Gamba Society, and the features deserving of survival have survived unchanged.

Changes? Firstly, a significant rapprochement with the wider world of amateur music, for example in Duncan Druce's class for baroque strings. More students are appearing who have wider horizons in amateur music-making than the rather inward-looking 'Olde Musicke' buffs of the past; and this encourages higher standards of achievement. Secondly, indeed, a notable improvement in standards among the more experienced students. The students' concert is very, very different from those I recall so well, when everyone was expected to show off what they had - or, alas, had not - learned. Thirdly, more young people, generally good and often very good; you should have heard Elizabeth Ferguson's group playing ragtime - which leads to Fourthly; an altogether broader-minded approach to music-making than in the prim old days; recorder virtuoso Alan Davis and lutenists Martin Eastwell and Stewart McCoy playing 'blues' in the (very comfortable) bar, and Jane Rumney 'doing' George Formby to the life with voice and banjolele.

For years now the final concert at NORVIS has been very good; this year it was remarkably good, the two Bach cantatas especially so; no 'allowances whatsoever needed to be made for them, a testimony to Ralph Woodward's training of a scratch choir and band. I have heard more prestigious but less inspiring performances on the radio.

To grind two axes of my own: I sensed that the rather naive notion that 415 is the proper pitch for all early music is on the way out, and (with the prospect of two or three more 'historical' pitches to cope with) the thought is stealing over ever more minds that there is something to be said for a single International Standard, even though it must sometimes be 'unauthentic'. And it is certainly increasingly recognised that learning the viol the 'easy way', without methodical and progressive technical work, is inefficient and leads into a cul-de-sac - as I explained to the Viola da Gamba Society a decade ago. Say not the struggle nought availeth...

Have there been countervailing losses? One consequence of rising standards may be discouragement of beginners. Thirty years ago a beginner might innocently suppose that he would learn all he needed to play a viol during a week at a Summer School. That illustrates the rudimentary achievement which was accepted in those days but is no longer acceptable today. NORVIS still gives a sympathetic and helpful welcome to the beginner who may have no background of string playing, and is aware of the problem of how best to use a bare week to set him on the right lines to make continued progress during the rest of the year, rather than bemusing and discouraging him with the frills, as in the old days. I am not sure that anyone yet knows all the answers to that problem, but recognition of a problem is a first essential step to solving it.

Yes, I plan ('if I'm spared') to be at NORVIS XXXII.

The NEEMF Music Library is now listed on the WEB and is housed at the National Centre for Early Music in York. It comprises music, mainly for voices but with some instrumental material, in small sets of 6-20 copies and copies of the LPM subscription series. Forum members are welcome to borrow the material for up to 3 months without charge except for post and packing. Request forms for material or a printout of the catalogue are obtainable from The Hon Librarian, The National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York YO1 9TL (enclosing SAE) The catalogue can be found on www.shef.ac.uk/misc/rec/neemf.library.html. There are two lists: NEEMF music Library.wdb (containing copies of workshop materials) and NEEMF Library LPM.wdb (containing the list of London Pro Musica editions).

In the September edition of the SEMF newsletter there was an advertisement for a triangular spinet by John Storrs (the same as mine). The price was �1000 which seems very reasonable to me, so if it is still available I hope a forum member will buy it and perhaps bring it along to the next TVEMF baroque day. We had a good number of spinets and a harpsichord at A=415 at the last event, but none at 440 (hint!) The contact is John Saunders (01797 230 641).

I was amused to see that the Parliament Choir will be performing J S Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Westminster Central Hall on Wednesday 5^th December (details in the concert listings). The choir is made up entirely of MPs, Members of the House of Lords and their staff and according to their press release a common love of music brought together singers from all parties and both Houses of Parliament last year. The Choir has quickly become recognised as one of the most active All Party Parliamentary Groups. The orchestra will be La Serenissima - one of London's top professional young orchestras. If anyone manages to go to this, do send a review for Tamesis.

Edward Wickham is well known to many of us for his forum workshops and as conductor of the Renaissance Singers. His brother Henry has asked me to publicise his concert on 29^th November at
St Bride's Fleet St where he is one of the soloists in Bach's Coffee Cantata, Corelli Concerto Grosso no.1 in D and Handel's Birthday Ode for Queen Anne. The orchestra is from the Historical Performance Dept. of the Royal Academy. See concert listings for details.

The National Gallery is offering �2 off the price of its Pisanello exhibition if you take with you your Royal Festival Hall Early Music Season 2001/2 brochure. The exhibition lasts until 13^th January.

Three of the four members of Stromenti are members of TVEMF - Alison Bowler and Judy and Roger Deats. They have a concert entitled "The Food of Love" at 8pm in the Oak Room, Wycombe Swan on Tuesday 27^th November, with music by Purcell, Telemann, Monteverdi, Dowland and Rameau.

Tickets from the Swan box office (01494 512000) or at the door.