Classical and Jazz: Latest News > June 16
Published: 16 June, 2011
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
THERE’S a treat for both early music and early literature fans at St Mary-the-Virgin, Primrose Hill, on Saturday when the Camden Chamber Choir continues its season.
The evening’s programme Glorious Summer: Voices of the Plantagenet Era looks back to some of the cultural glories of the English medieval world.
There will be the soaring music of William Cornyshe, John Dunstaple and Robert Fayrefax, three composers who were highly influential across Europe as well as this country before the onset of the Renaissance.
Their music will be interspersed by readings by actress Ellie Dickens of pieces by William Langland, reputedly the author of Piers Plowman; Thomas Malory, compiler of Le Morte d’Arthur; and Chaucer.
There’ll also be a poignant description of the Battle of Towton in Yorkshire fought in 1461 during the Wars of the Roses.
It was the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil with nearly 30,000 reported to have died.
• A fundraiser for the Elias Fawcett Trust being held at Lauderdale House, Highgate, on Sunday is to involve a mid-morning concert given by the Arensky Chamber Orchestra followed by lunch.
The trust was set up in memory of Elias Fawcett, a promising young guitarist who died in 1996 not long after his 18th birthday.
Its main work is organise and support performances by young musicians so that they can have a chance of performing before a listening public.