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Our Recent ProjectsThe Canterbury Tales Ballet - 2006In 2005 - 06 we collaborated with Independent Ballet Wales, creating a dance score from our extensive repertoire of early music for their original ballet version of The Canterbury Tales, and playing the music for the dancers. We accompanied the ballet company on part of their UK tour, playing live at many major theatrical venues, including Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, Buxton Opera House, The Grand Theatre, Swansea, The Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, The Riverfront Theatre, Newport. From this collaboration came our third CD, Dancing to Canterbury, which contains many of the pieces used for the ballet.
The Canterbury Tales – Music and Readings – 2006-2007Capitalising on this experience we put together a programme using some of the music from the ballet with selected readings from Chaucer’s masterpiece, including extracts from The Miller’s Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale, and The Wife of Bath’s Tale. We performed the programme with considerable success at various venues in Cardiff, including Chapter Arts’ Centre and The Norwegian Church Arts Centre, Cardiff.
Click here to view the programme. If Music and Sweet Poetrie Agree ... – A Programme of Renaissance Music and Readings - 2007Following the successful format of our Canterbury Tales, in 2007 we created a programme of Renaissance music (including instrumental and vocal music by composers such as John Dowland, Antony Holborne, William Byrd), alongside poetry, prose and drama of the period (by Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, etc). Again, we took this show to various South Wales venues. Click here to view the programme. Historical Sites – Spring/Summer 2008From Christmas 2007 to summer 2008 we were booked by CADW to play medieval music outdoors at weekends at various historical sites in Wales, including Caerphilly Castle, Tintern Abbey, Valle Crucis Abbey at Llangollen, The Bishop’s Palace at St David’s and Tretower Court. We really enjoyed the opportunity of performing at these magical venues, and of playing our outdoor instruments, like the shawm and the rauschpfeif. Although the weather was not always as kind as it might have been, our live music added an exciting dimension to the experience of visitors to these beautiful and atmospheric sites, and our music was highly praised by members of the public and by CADW.
In the words of one of the visitors – a Tintern Abbey tour guide of several years’ experience – “Pavane’s music brought the site to life.”
Our New ProjectsChristmas CD – A New RecordingWe have, over the years, built up a huge repertoire of early Christmas music and over the years we have often discussed the possibility of recording a CD of the more interesting and unusual pieces.
At last we have actually started recording a CD at The Atrium, the University of Glamorgan’s state-of-the-art media centre in Cardiff, and plan to release the CD in time for Christmas 2008. This project allows undergraduates of the University to gain experience in the recording studio control room (under the supervision of their Tutor), and it allows Pavane to make use of the most up-to-date recording facilities available.
Woyzeck – November 2008In collaboration with Everyman Theatre Company, Cardiff, one of South Wales’ most prestigious amateur drama groups, we are providing the music for their forthcoming production of Georg Buchner’s nineteenth century play, Woyzeck. The play was famously turned into an opera by Alban Berg in the early twentieth century, and the great film director Herzog brought out a film version in 1979. Everyman, for their original and highly innovative production, are using not only a new and unpublished translation of the play, but also a newly-commissioned musical score for the songs and for the incidental music. For the first very time, Pavane Early Music Consort will be performing a programme of entirely contemporary twenty-first century music! The refurbishment of Everyman’s usual home, Chapter Arts’ Centre Theatre, means that Woyzeck will be performed as a touring show, using a variety of venues, from Neath to The Atrium to Llanover Hall. The play will run during the week beginning 17th November 2008. For further details keep an eye on our Forthcoming Dates page, or visit the Everyman website. Penrhys Festival – September 2008This year Pavane has been invited to play at this cultural event. Penrhys, the site of an ancient holy well and pilgrimage destination, is celebrating the 470th anniversary of the removal and burning of their “miraculous statue”. It is also the 40th anniversary of the estate, making this year’s festival especially important and memorable. We will be making two separate appearances at the festival, one outdoors and one concert performance in the Arts’ Centre. For details of our involvement, please refer to our Forthcoming Dates page. |
