Select a Class

Rotem Gilbert

This Day of the Year: Ce jour de l’an

A=440

75 minutes

Level: Intermediate and up

Let’s celebrate the New Year playing and singing 15th-century songs. Rotem Gilbert will lead the session with her lovely assistant Adam Gilbert. They will accompany you in playing three-voice songs by Guillaume Dufay, Hugo de Lantin, Johannes Ockeghem, and more. You are invited to add the third voice.

After a bracing jam session, we’ll have a sneak preview of the new SFEMS recorder workshop setup.

David Morris & Yuko Tanaka

Renaissance and Baroque Ornamentation Set #1

Corelli’s Graces: Corelli slow movements for any melody instrument—with ornaments by YOU and basslines by David Morris (viol) and Yuko Tanaka (harpsichord)

A=415

75–90 minutes

When the English music publisher John Walsh released his version of Arcangelo Corelli’s Op. 5 violin sonatas in 1725, he included a parallel line of music for several of the slow movements featuring what he called “Corelli’s Graces"—a somewhat controversial, but nonetheless contemporary rendering of someone’s ideas about the practice of ornamentation in the early 18th century.  

For this class, we’ll use a modified “master class” format to study the structure of these “somewhat controversial” ornaments, then create and share our own ornaments based on these 18th-c. examples.

Participants will receive both the plain melodies and ornamentation examples ahead of time. You’ll have time to familiarize yourselves and prepare your own ornaments—then, on class day, we’ll call on some volunteers to demonstrate and describe their ornaments. Once we’ve walked through the entire piece, we’ll have plenty of time for everyone at home to play along with a figured bassline provided by the instructors.

Adam Bregman

Musica practica #1: Another Look at the Musical Tones (Modes)

A=440

75 minutes

All instruments/voices (incl. texted music) and levels of experience welcome, however prior familiarity with solmization and the hexachord system is a plus. 

This two-class workshop will begin with a review of what defines each tone (mode) and how to identify the tone of a single melodic line or an entire polyphonic composition. Solmization and the arrangement of whole-tones and semitones is key to understanding the structure of each tone, so we will spend time solmizing and making sure not to confuse our mis with our fas! 

The second class will then go further to investigate modal affinities and the transmutability of tone. For example, how does the character of a tune change if it is interpreted in tone 1 (Dorian mode) or tone 7 (Mixolydian mode), for example? L'homme armé is perfectly at home whether in "minor" (tone 1) or "major" (tone 7). What if one version of a song is in tone 1 but another is in tone 5 (Lydian mode)? We will experiment with these modal shifts, looking at monophonic and polyphonic examples, culminating in excerpts from Johannes Ockeghem’s Missa cuiusvis toni (“Mass in any tone you like”).

Adam Bregman

Musica practica #2: Another Look at the Musical Tones (Modes)

A=440

75 minutes

All instruments/voices (incl. texted music) and levels of experience welcome, however prior familiarity with solmization and the hexachord system is a plus. 

This two-class workshop will begin with a review of what defines each tone (mode) and how to identify the tone of a single melodic line or an entire polyphonic composition. Solmization and the arrangement of whole-tones and semitones is key to understanding the structure of each tone, so we will spend time solmizing and making sure not to confuse our mis with our fas! 

The second class will then go further to investigate modal affinities and the transmutability of tone. For example, how does the character of a tune change if it is interpreted in tone 1 (Dorian mode) or tone 7 (Mixolydian mode), for example? L'homme armé is perfectly at home whether in "minor" (tone 1) or "major" (tone 7). What if one version of a song is in tone 1 but another is in tone 5 (Lydian mode)? We will experiment with these modal shifts, looking at monophonic and polyphonic examples, culminating in excerpts from Johannes Ockeghem’s Missa cuiusvis toni (“Mass in any tone you like”).

David Wilson

Baroque Violin "Modified Masterclass"

A=415

75–90 minutes

ideal for violin and viola

Stuck on a sticky passage? Can’t decide how to ornament that phrase? 

Sign up for a "modified masterclass" coaching session with David Wilson! The first five musicians who sign up and indicate they would like to play will receive coaching, and everyone who attends is welcome to observe and ask questions.

Shira Kammen

Burgundian Blockbusters #1: Mid-Century Masterpieces by Guillaume Dufay (1397–1474) 

A=440

75 min (approx)

A central musical figure in the Burgundian school, and possibly the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century, Dufay never missed on a composition.  We'll look at both secular and sacred music, every piece a gem. By the end of these classes, you will be able to fluently play 2 against 3 with Burgundian grace and confidence, and you will never doubt a rondeau or virelai again.

Shira Kammen

Burgundian Blockbusters #2: Mid-Century Masterpieces by Guillaume Dufay (1397–1474)

A=440

75 min (approx)

A central musical figure in the Burgundian school, and possibly the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century, Dufay never missed on a composition.  We'll look at both secular and sacred music, every piece a gem. By the end of these classes, you will be able to fluently play 2 against 3 with Burgundian grace and confidence, and you will never doubt a rondeau or virelai again.

David Morris & Yuko Tanaka

Renaissance and Baroque Ornamentation Set #2

Ortiz’ Ornaments: Recercadas by Diego Ortiz for any melody instrument, with ornaments by YOU and basslines by David Morris (viol) and Yuko Tanaka (harpsichord)

A=415

75–90 minutes

You take the lead in at-home performances of works which exemplify a particular school of high-Renaissance ornamentation, all taken from Ortiz’ seminal work, Il trattado de glosas (Rome, 1553).  We’ll spend the first part of class with a discussion about the nature and structure of these didactic and creative works and spend the rest of the time playing through them through the wonder of Zoom.

Materials will be sent ahead of the class.

Adam Gilbert

Ye Olde Song and Dance

A=440

75 minutes

Songs that are Dances, and Dances that are Songs, from Machaut to Marco (Uccellini, that is).