Welcome from the Artistic Director
Welcome to Baroque Week 2024!
Today, as I sit down to write to you, the desperately sad news has just broken that
Dartington Summer School, which has for seventy-five years inspired and encouraged
generations of musicians; student, professional and amateur alike, has had to cancel
its 2024 course, and the Artistic Director, Sara Mohr-Pietsch, and all her team have
been forced to resign. Whether this will be the permanent end for the summer school
is unclear but this is just another nail in the coffin for the Arts in this country
in these difficult times. In the light of this news I am all the more happy and proud
to say that Baroque Week seems to be going from strength to strength. 2023 saw our
largest ever gathering and we certainly don’t plan to expand further, feeling that
we are now achieving the ideal numbers to create a buzzing creative environment with
an extraordinarily friendly atmosphere, and with an excellent balance of singers
and players.
I feel so lucky to have established a wonderful team of tutors, who are not only
such gifted performers and so well-informed but also hugely warm, generous and encouraging
teachers. I know that everyone is extremely sad that, after six years, Steven Devine
and Kate Semmens have decided that the time has come for them to move on with other
projects, and I would like to thank them personally for the extraordinary expertise,
energy and commitment they have brought to the course. And thank you to all of you
who gave so generously for a leaving gift for them – I know that they were completely
bowled over. I’m also sorry that Jacob Garside will not be able to join us in 2024
as Baroque Week conflicts with a long run of performances. However, I am thrilled
that we have secured the very best replacements with Robert Howarth, harpsichordist
and conductor; Daniel Collins, singer and conductor; and my brother Mark Caudle as
our cello and viol tutor. To learn more about them please visit the Tutors page.
I am very grateful to all of you who took the time to give us such useful, and overwhelmingly
positive, feedback after the 2023 course. We consider seriously any suggestions you
make for further improvement to the course, and try whenever possible to incorporate
your ideas and to address your occasional criticisms! But virtually everyone seems
to approve of the new, slightly more relaxed timetable we introduced this year, so
we will be keeping this format.
We managed to give ten full or part bursaries in 2023, which was the largest number
to date. I hasten to add that we don’t only give financial support to students and
up-and-coming professional musicians but on many occasions help people at all stages
of life who would otherwise be unable to come. But I felt that this year the recipients
were an exceptional group of young singers and players who made a hugely beneficial
contribution to the course, not only with the high level of their musical ability
but in their willingness to interact with everyone, and in the way they threw themselves
with enthusiasm into all that was on offer. We make them work hard in return by helping
with tasks such as serving tea, shifting furniture and moving keyboard instruments,
and they proved particularly willing and helpful this year. I also really love the
fact that we have such a range of age groups attending, from eighteen to eighty-something,
and feel that the interaction between the generations brings something very special
to Baroque Week. For 2024 we are introducing a new scheme whereby we keep the actual
course fee as low as possible and ask you to give an extra donation alongside the
basic fee if you are in a position to do so. This will benefit us even further if
you are a UK tax payer and can add Gift Aid. So please give generously if you are
able – your contribution will make a big difference to our funds, not only for bursaries
but also other expenses such as hiring in extra keyboard instruments. And a huge
“thank you” to all of you who have already made generous donations, which helped
us to avoid a deficit for the 2023 course.
So to plans for 2024.......…
Whilst Baroque Week continues to give plenty of opportunity to form your own ensembles
(with help from the tutors if necessary) without prescribing your choice of repertoire
– and with our ever-growing library there is an extraordinary amount of music to
choose from – in our tutor-led sessions we offer more structured exploration of a
specific theme. After several years investigating music from continental Europe in
our series of “Grand Tours”, this year’s theme is “Fairest Isle: A Musical Journey
Around the British Isles” and will give us the opportunity to champion the rich and
varied repertoire from around our own islands in the 17th and 18th Centuries. London
was, for obvious reasons, the epicentre of musical excellence and we will include
lots of great music by Purcell, Blow and Handel. But there were pockets of important
activity in other parts of the British Isles, in particular Edinburgh, Dublin, Oxford,
Newcastle and Durham, and we will be exploring music by many composers who lived
and worked far from the metropolis including Charles Avison, William Hayes, Richard
Mudge and James Oswald.
There won’t be a “big band” with massed ranks of wind this time; instead I envisage
more groups running concurrently in the first session of the day, including various
orchestral and vocal/instrumental ensembles as well as projects for separate groups
of instruments with their specialist tutors. There will be a broad range of repertoire,
from the early and mid 17th Century with composers such as Locke, Lawes and Jenkins
through to the late 18th Century with J C Bach and Abel. 2024 will be the 350th anniversary
of the death of Pelham Humphrey and the birth of Jeremiah Clarke, and to celebrate
both of their tragically short lives some of their music will be included in the
vocal sessions. And as I delve further into suitable repertoire a sub-theme is beginning
to emerge – that of Coronation Anthems. Unsurprisingly, some of the best and grandest
vocal music was written for these spectacular occasions and we will include Purcell’s
I was Glad and Handel’s Let Thy Hand be Strengthened (from the Coronations of James
II and George I) for the evening choir as well as anthems by Henry Lawes, John Blow,
Jeremiah Clarke and William Turner in vocal sessions.
I am compiling a working spreadsheet of composers and possible repertoire for the
purposes of planning tutor-led projects but you might also find it provides food
for thought for material that you could explore in your own sessions. Here is a link
to it: Repertoire suggestions
We will also gradually be adding new pieces to the library in the months to come
so keep a look-out for new material by going to the Library page and following the
links.
I do hope to see you in August! Book early to avoid disappointment as we are very
optimistic that we will be fully booked again, and please do have a look at the Bursaries
page if you might need financial assistance in order to attend.
Theresa
