sign in sign up
<<
Home , Benjamin Cosyn, In Nomine, John Taverner, Lay clerk, My Ladye Nevells Booke, Stephen Farr

The Virtuoso Tudor & Jacobean Masterworks

The Taylor & Boody Organ (Opus 66) of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge

Stephen Farr

RES10143 The Virtuoso Organist

William Byrd (c. 1540-1623) Anonymous Tudor & Jacobean Masterworks 1. A Voluntarie for my ladye nevell [5:05] 10. [10:21]

John Bull (1562/3-1628) (1583-1625) 2. Galliard [1:59] 11. Fantasia [6:04]

Stephen Farr organ Anonymous 3. Bina caelestis II [8:19] 12. A Fancie [5:08]

The Taylor & Boody Organ (Opus 66) of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 4. [II] [4:34] Total playing time [68:35]

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) with 5. Ecce tempus idoneum [3:49] The Gentlemen of the of Sidney Sussex College (1572-1656) directed by David Skinner 6. [17:30]

John Blitheman (1525-1591) 7. Gloria tibi Trinitas [I] [2:15] 8. Gloria tibi Trinitas [IV] [2:15]

John Bull About Stephen Farr: 9. Coranto Joyeuse [1:08] ‘Farr rises to the occasion, turning in performances that are as varied and vital as the music demands, intricate details inked with telling clarity’ Choir and Organ

'[...] one can simply enjoy Farr's rock steady rhythmic playing, crisp articulation and commanding overview. His approach is refreshingly unfussy and quirk free’ Gramophone The Virtuoso Organist: September 1591. Tudor and Jacobean Masterworks The ‘Lady Nevell’ was Elizabeth, wife of Sir We begin and end in 1591 when the Henry Nevell of Billingbear in Berkshire, composer William Byrd collaborated with which was located near to Byrd’s home in one of the most gifted Elizabethan music Harlington and also to Baldwin’s workplace copyists, John Baldwin, to produce ‘My as a at St George’s Chapel, Ladye Nevells Booke’ – the finest surviving .2 Although no evidence manuscript of Tudor keyboard music.1 survives of Lady Nevell’s interest in Acquired from the Abergavenny family keyboard music, or skill as a virginalist, by the in 2006, this the inviting legibility of her eponymous manuscript contains forty-two pieces, manuscript begs for it to be opened, all by Byrd himself, copied in Baldwin’s perused and played. Perhaps it was a most formal hand. The large-format fiftieth birthday present: Lady Nevell had notation is pin-sharp, with easy-to-read, been born in 1541, not long after William diamond-headed notes and elegantly Byrd himself. The first part of the book turned quaver beams; each piece begins comprises sociable music for the : wherever possible on the topmost stave ‘my ladye nevells grownde’, ‘the battell’ of the folio (and preferably the left-hand (a naïve narrative suite), and numerous side or verso), minimizing the incidence pavans and galliards. The second half of of inopportune page-turns; occasional the book is more varied in its contents, fingerings help the player to avoid some of which could be played on either embarrassment while the correcting virginals or organ. The penultimate item hand of another musician, probably in the book, A fancie (track 12), is also Byrd himself, intervenes on those rare found in a near-contemporary manuscript occasions where Baldwin’s precision is copied by the church musician and less than absolute. To help the player madrigalist, (British Library, find each piece, an index at the back Add. 30485). This is a classic exposition of of the volume lists each piece (or ‘songe’) Byrd’s mature fantasia style, in which strict and the leaf where it can be found. alternates with episodes of At the end of this index Baldwin recorded, dazzling fingerwork, particularly during perhaps with some relief, the completion the inexorable progression towards the of this exacting commission on 11 final . The latter part of ‘’ pre-Reformation tradition. As part of his begins with A voluntarie for my ladye nevell musical education, perhaps as a chorister at (or ‘the voluntarie lesson’: track 1): unique St Paul’s Cathedral, Byrd would have learnt to this manuscript, it was probably a the craft of counterpoint partly through bespoke composition for Lady Nevell. the medium of organ playing. Apparently The terms ‘voluntary’ and ‘lesson’, first copied at St Paul’s around 1560, the Mulliner found in the 1560s in keyboard manuscripts Book anthologizes the kinds of idioms learnt such as (British Library, by young musicians by the middle of the Add. 30513), perhaps recall an uneasy sixteenth century: pieces, phase of transition when the organ, a free-composed ‘voluntaries’, dances, mainstay of Catholic worship, had arrangements of part songs and , struggled to establish a permanent role and snippets from large-scale compositions within the reformed liturgy. A reprimand selected as compositional exemplars. Among suffered by Byrd for over-elaborate these contents are two versets by Thomas organ-playing may have contributed to Tallis for the Lenten Ecce tempus his decision to leave Lincoln Cathedral idoneum (Track 5). Composed either in the in 1572 for the security and professional early or mid-1550s, Tallis’s setting fulfilment of the . Although demonstrates the craft of ‘breaking’ or less showy than some of his keyboard masking of the plainsong: the hymn tune fantasias, ‘A voluntarie for my ladye is played by the left hand (in the tenor nevell' brings the mature composer’s voice) but, lightly paraphrased, it provides easy, vocal-style declamation to bear imitative material for the other voices, upon this early-Elizabethan genre. In his which weave fuga around it. restraint Byrd shows himself the true master of the keyboard: fast fingerwork Byrd and Tallis were to serve together in makes its appearance here only in the ’s Chapel Royal from the early final bars by way of cadential flourish. until Tallis died in 1585, and collaborated in the publication of a The keyboard pieces of William Byrd and collection of sacred music, Cantiones other Elizabethan virginalists witness the Sacrae, in 1575. One of the last generation emergence of a distinctive English keyboard of musicians to spend their formative years tradition, but one which stemmed from exclusively in the service of the Latin liturgy, (and was in some ways haunted by) the Tallis provided Byrd with first-hand witness to the old traditions which Byrd, in turn, genres, and so it is perhaps no surprise to handed down to the next generation find his pupil writing a Galliard and Coranto (breaking of the plainsong is one of the (tracks 2 and 9). The Corante or ‘Courante traditional contrapuntal methods described Joijeuse van Jan Bull Doctor’ is preserved by , also of the Chapel Royal, in a manuscript copied in 1628 in the Low in his Plaine and Easie Introduction to Countries where Bull had fled in 1613 to Practicall Musicke of 1597). Another link to escape an adultery scandal (British Library, the recent pre-Reformation past was Add. 23623); the Galliard ‘to the Pavin in provided by John Blitheman of the Chapel D sol re’ is found in five sources, among Royal, whose five settings of the them ’s Virginal Book of Gloria tibi Trinitas recall Oxford during the 1620 (British Library, Royal MS 23.L.4). golden 1520s when of This latter manuscript was copied by Cosyn Cardinal College wrote his influential Mass shortly before he became organist of St based on the same Trinitarian melody. Lawrence, Ludlow (he ended his career The settings performed here (tracks 7-8) as organist of the Charterhouse, London, showed the budding organist how to until he was discharged on the abolition play in three parts, with plainsong in of in 1643); Cosyn’s book either or tenor, using repeating also includes Fancy in Gam ut flatt (Fantasia melodic cells and melodic dialogue – track 11), an extended and mature essay between the added voices. in imitative fantasia by Orlando Gibbons, gentleman of James I’s Chapel Royal. John Bull, the younger Elizabethan keyboard virtuoso, was taught by Blitheman as a Thomas Tomkins’s Offertory (track 6) is child of the Chapel Royal before receiving the most enigmatic piece presented here. tuition from Byrd himself. Blitheman’s It is the latest composition, and yet profoundly impact can clearly be seen in Bull’s second retrospective. Its title alludes to the lost In nomine (track 4), which also quotes tradition of keyboard settings of plainsong from John Taverner’s Mass Gloria tibi , but it is built out of a seven-note Trinitas and uses melodic cells ostinato ACBCDBA which recalls the melodic like Blitheman’s Gloria tibi Trinitas incipit of the old Lady Mass offertory, Felix V, which breaks into triple time in its namque (which was used by Tallis in a latter stages. Pavan-Galliard pairs were pair of extended settings which Tomkins one of William Byrd’s favourite keyboard probably knew). Offertories had been the most long-winded genre within the pre- the more laconic ‘a good 2 parts’. In this latter Reformation repertory so, perhaps case, Tomkins was ruminating upon the appropriately, Tomkins’s essay is very long: once normative genre of two-part bicinium his ostinato is stated 55 times, after an which had been used by early-Tudor opening fuga built out of ten statements composers for the first verses of organ of the same melody, 65 in all. Tomkins was . The composer of this setting is in the habit of dating his compositions, unknown but was probably Thomas and he attributed this one to 1637, in Preston, the leading English organist which year fell his 65th birthday. between the death of John Redford in 1547 and the maturity of William Byrd If Tomkins represents an autumnal in the 1570s. flowering of the English keyboard tradition, he may also have been responsible for Bina caelestis is based upon the faburden, preserving by far the most important a counter-melody to the proper hymn tune witness to the formative years of this which was commonly used by singers and tradition, British Library Add. 26669. as the basis for quasi-improvised Originally copied in the 1540s and 1550s, polyphonic renderings of alternate verses. this book transmits most of the surviving Performed during the of (i.e., the Tudor organ music for Catholic worship: week following) the feast of St John the settings of hymns, and Evangelist which fell on 27 December, this canticles for the Office, as well as is one of several hymns set to organ or movements for the Mass, particularly vocal during the twelve days Offertories. To an even greater extent of Christmas. The eighth-tone Magnificat than other post-Reformation musicians, (track 10), also anonymous and also Tomkins devoured this repertory, attributable to Thomas Preston, would appraising and imitating the best have been of use throughout the liturgical exemplars, whose turns of phrase year. A series of six texturally distinct periodically made their way into his versets, some of them subdivided at own pieces. Annotations in his hand their mid-point, is built upon the faburden appear throughout the manuscript: of the proper , even more broadly ‘a good olde indeade very good’, ‘a paraphrased than in Bina caelestis. Some dainty fine verse’, or, in the case of decades after this Magnificat had become the first verse of Bina caelestis (track 3), liturgically obsolete, Thomas Tomkins sought compositional inspiration from it; attracted by its running figuration in triple time, he apparently liked the third verset (’a good verse’), part of which he tried unsuccessfully to re-write.

© 2014 Magnus Williamson Newcastle University / Centre d'Études Supérieures de la , Tours

Stephen Farr

Notes: 1. British Library, MS Mus. 1591, available online at http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/nevells/index.html and in facsimile: Oliver Neighbour (ed.), My Ladye Nevells Booke, Documenta Musicologica, Zweite Reihe: Handschriften-Faksimiles, 44 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2012).

2. John Harley, '“My Ladye Nevell” revealed', Music & Letters, 86 (2005), pp. 1-13. Taylor & Boody Organ Builders, Opus 66 the Lady Chapel, a location which subsequently housed the electro-pneumatic organ built in It was with high hopes that I first visited 1967 by Harrison and Harrison. When that Sidney Sussex on All Hallows’ Eve, 2008. instrument failed mechanically, the consensus David Titterington, the College’s organ once more was that the same side gallery consultant, had invited our firm to would be the only viable location for a new propose a new mechanical action organ organ. for the Chapel. The instrument was to have sufficient tonal resources to meet Organ builders thrive on challenges, of which the variety of musical requirements one the Lady Chapel gallery poses more than its would expect in such a setting. I had share. The side location is acoustically been warned, however, that its placement problematic for such a long, narrow hall. in the acoustically ideal gallery above In addition the site presents severe spatial the entrance would be difficult, if not limitations and technical obstacles to the impossible. This concerned me because designer. These could no doubt eventually the siting of an organ is critical to its be solved, but the longer I studied the success. On inspection it was immediately situation the more skeptical I became of apparent that the rear gallery was entirely taking on such a demanding project so inadequate to house any organ without far from home. After exploring the options considerable compromise to the Chapel’s I had to admit with sincere regrets that we architectural integrity. Indeed, it seems would not be wise to accept the College’s that in 1911 when T.H. Lyon designed invitation to make a proposal. It was at the interior with great attention to detail, that point that Dr Titterington, hoping to little or no thought was given to how an save the day, asked if we might consider organ might fit into the plan. Consequently, building a chamber organ instead. He when the College purchased Sir Arthur explained that under the direction of Dr Hill’s residence organ in 1922 it was David Skinner, the College choir had relegated to the tower chamber above gained a wide reputation for its the antechapel, and so was forced to performance of music of the English speak into the nave at great disadvantage Renaissance and now needed a small through a small curtained doorway. organ for accompaniment. Suddenly, Many years later its condition was improved with his suggestion we found a key when it was moved to the gallery above which opened our minds to a trove of alternatives that had not occurred to us years reveals a remarkable consistency in their before. Would it be possible to place a fundamental design and in the stops chosen slender, free-standing organ on the main for them. This common bond bridged not floor near the choir stalls? It could be a only distinct national styles, but also widely simple, traditional instrument with a separated artistic periods, ranging from single manual and no pedals. If it were late-medieval times through the Romantic designed with a specific historical focus, era. Knowing this we felt secure in turning it would not be required to meet the for our primary inspiration in this project eclectic demands placed on a larger to the 17th century Dutch and North German instrument. All the signs were encouraging. organ building schools, which have been When we looked around for where such central to the work of our company from an organ might stand, we noted that the the beginning. We have been fortunate to architect had left a curiously open, be able to study a number of these old unfurnished space to the left of the organs over the years, several of them aisle next to the chancel steps. What was intimately, when we were engaged for its purpose? Was it perhaps intended their restoration. One could not ask for for a piano? Whatever the case, it was better teachers. However, it is important clearly an ideal spot for a small organ. to say that while we wanted the Sidney Thinking further, we then realized that Sussex organ to have close ties to the if the organ were built on a moveable antiques visually and tonally, we had no platform it could be stationed on intention of making it as a copy. Rather, occasion in the centre aisle for the the instrument would be built from new optimum projection of its sound into designs drawing on principles used by the nave. And so it happened, that by the early builders. end of the afternoon the vision for the new organ had taken form. From that The process began with the choice of stops. point forward design evolved slowly, as Following common practice, we selected its musical, architectural and technical two ranks of flue pipes, one open, the other elements were woven together in a stopped, to serve as the organ’s tonal harmonious whole. foundation at unison pitch. The first is the metal Principal 8' (or Open Diapason). Its The history of chamber or positive organs pipes produce the warm sound unique to built in Europe over the past four hundred organs, with a characteristic rich in overtones, which make them closely Once the stops were selected the question of resemble the human voice. Two other stops pitch was addressed. This would determine in the same family, the Præstant 4' and the the length of the pipes and by extension the Octave 2' were included at higher pitches. size of the case. Three options were considered, When played together these three comprise the first being today’s standard orchestral the small principal chorus (or plenum) of pitch of A=440Hz. That would have been the instrument. The second foundation appropriate had the organ been intended stop, the Gedackt 8' (or Stopped Diapason), primarily for use with modern instruments, has pipes made of Cherry. It can be but this was not the case. The second option identified by its gentle flute tone and is was to set the pitch a ½ tone lower, making especially useful in choral accompaniments. A=415Hz (Kammerton), the largely accepted There are also two higher pitched stops of standard today for ensembles performing flute timbre, namely the Flauta 4' with with Baroque instruments. The third possibility tapered metal pipes and the Nasat 3', was to set the pitch ½ tone higher than normal which plays at an octave and a fifth above at A=465Hz (Chorton), thereby placing it a the Gedackt. Finally there is the Vox whole step above Kammerton. The choice Virginia 8' (or Regal), a small but feisty came down to one of the latter two, both reed stop of a sort much prized in early of which were common in antique organs. This stop has short, partially instruments. In the end we settled on covered resonators and open-throated Chorton because it works especially well brass shallots that give it a somewhat for accompaniment of Renaissance choral wild tone associated with medieval literature. It also allows the organ to be consorts. There are in all only three small. The organist can transpose down hundred and eleven pipes in the organ. a whole tone when required to play with Despite their modest number, they can contemporary Baroque instruments. be combined in a surprising variety of ways to accompany the choir, other The beauty of the Chapel’s interior set a instrumental ensembles, and the singing high standard for the instrument’s appearance. of the people. To this end the pipes have The neo-Wren appointments of the space been voiced with open toes and high required a case with classical moldings and cut-up mouths which emphasize their rich ornamentation. Both the casework and vocal qualities. its carvings would be made of quarter-sawn White Oak, fumed and stained to match the Chapel paneling. Traditional joinery would be The plan from the outset was to make the used throughout. Where possible, simple instrument no larger than it needed to be geometric proportions were employed to to meet its musical goals. We agreed that in determine the relative size, shape and keeping with 17th century tradition we placement of the case’s elements. The would build a keyboard of limited compass, form of the upper case was derived in using what is known as a short octave bass. the manner of the old builders from Before 1700 in the Netherlands and the arrangement of the tin façade pipes Germany it was common practice to omit of the Præstant 4'. Its five longest bass C#, D#, F# and G# in the bottom octave pipes were grouped in the middle field since those notes were rarely needed for with the 4' long bottom C standing in the music of the period. This decision had the centre. These were flanked by the important implications for our design. shorter, higher-pitched trebles placed Since bass pipes are the largest in the symmetrically in the two fields on either organ, without those pipes the case could side. This age-old arrangement allows reflect the elegance of the antiques. Once the trebles to stand next to their major the arrangement of the façade pipes was thirds, which promotes tuning stability fixed, a proposal drawing was made, and in turn produces the most logical followed by the interior layout of the and efficient layout of the pipes on the soundboard, the playing action, and so on. soundboard (or windchest) inside. Also, All proceeded smoothly until it was brought the position of the three embossed pipes to our attention that while bass C# and D# was determined by their relation to the were rarely needed for early English music, width of the case through the use of the F# and G# were frequently required. This golden section proportion. By this means, posed a problem, since so much work had the visual rhythms and harmony of the already gone into the case design and case were directly tied to and generated scaling of the pipes that to abandon them by the proportions of the pipes. In a and start over was out of the question. Still, similar fashion the dimensions of the we knew it was important somehow to lower case were driven by the requirements include the desired pipes, and so the of its playing action, stop controls, and challenge of fitting them onto the bellows and wind system. Where possible soundboard design had to be tackled. With they echo the proportions used in the minor adjustments to pipe scaling here and upper case. there the job proved to be just possible. Although the resulting design is more action. The keys are hinged at their tails received a request to include elements from organ. However, all temperaments crowded than originally intended, it works so that their weight hangs directly on the the College’s crest in the ornamentation. require compromises. In the case of strict surprisingly well. Adding extra keys to 17th trackers and pallets (or valves) in the The bull and porcupine quickly found their meantone, strong dissonances are and 18th century keyboard instruments soundboard. This makes for the most place as brackets beside the center tower. generated in the most remote keys (i.e. was common practice in the 19th century; sensitive touch and allows for the best Shield and crown were incorporated in those with the most sharps or flats in their in our case the revision had to be made response of attack and release. the carving above the center pipes. Only key signatures). Furthermore, in meantone while the organ was still being built. later did we learn that whenever the crown there is one completely unplayable ‘wolf’ Musicians assure us that it was worth The wind system of the organ consists of is present it must be accompanied by a interval, usually between Eb and G#. Had the effort. In spite of the addition of the a single wedge-shaped bellows with an lozenge rather than a shield, and so a we been willing to accept these problems two extra bass notes we chose to retain electric blower and a wooden conductor to second carving was made to satisfy the then the choice for the Sidney organ would the short octave keyboard as a teaching bring the wind from the bellows to the finer points of heraldry. have been settled. However, after much aid to assist in the performance of music soundboard. We would have preferred to deliberation we decided to look for a more written with this configuration in mind. build two bellows so that the organ could Perhaps the most significant factor flexible temperament than pure meantone, Thus, what appear to be E, F# and G# also be pumped by hand as it would have determining the singular character of the one which would have lovely (if slightly actually play C, D and E respectively. The been in the past. However, because floor Sidney organ was the choice of its tuning less than pure) triads in the home keys, latecomers (F# and G#) were inserted space was at a premium and a moveable system, or temperament. Early keyboard but which would still be playable throughout as short little sharps above and behind platform was desirable, we had to abandon instruments were customarily tuned in the range of keys. The search by instrument D & E. the wish for multiple bellows. unequal temperaments. This meant that builders and theoreticians for an ideal certain tonalities, largely those played on compromise or alternative to meantone The keyboard dimensions are based on Nowadays it is rare to find an organ case with the natural keys, were allotted well-tuned, has been underway for centuries. This those found in antique continental doors. This is unfortunate because they play consonant triads at the expense of the meant there were many fascinating options organs and ; both the a prominent role in the organ’s architectural more distant tonalities, which were seldom to consider. Over the years we have used naturals and the sharps are shorter than and tonal history. At Sidney the organ fairly used. It was a hierarchical system inherently some seven different temperaments in our their modern counterparts. This has a begged for doors to complement its form, tied to the music and philosophy of its day, organs, each with its own advantages and positive influence on the performance amplify (or restrain) its sound and one which persisted in English organs well shortcomings. Most of these were of , making it easier for the occasionally shield it from prying hands. into the 19th century. Later, when historically based, many being modifications player to articulate musical lines as they There was a brief temptation to paint the egalitarian theories prevailed, all intervals of meantone. The recent advent of electronic would have been conceived by their doors with biblical motifs as can be seen were made the same size, hence leaving tuning standards has made it possible to composers. The tops of the natural keys in the beautiful Sutton organ at Jesus no pure tuning relationships in any triads. tune organs with greater accuracy than have been rounded over to help the College. In the end we settled instead on In 17th century organs by far most popular ever before. As a result we are able to fingers find the center of the keys when a plain vibrant blue with a minimum of temperament was meantone, prized for its tune certain temperaments with subtle using early fingering techniques. Like the gold trim to complement the Chapel’s fine pure thirds and gently undulating fifths. intervals, which up to now have been antiques, this organ has suspended tracker altar painting. During construction we This was our first choice for the Sidney nearly impossible to lay exactly by ear. This has led organ builders to explore new Titterington for his clear vision and The Taylor and Boody Organ of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Opus 66) paths in solving old problems. One of the encouragement. Likewise, the support and most successful experiments along this patience of David Skinner while we wrestled 8' Principal (co – d''', bass common with Gedackt) line was first used in 1985 by Jürgen with many issues were essential to the 8' Gedackt Ahrend for his restoration of the late 17th organ’s success. As with many experiments, 4' Præstant century Arp Schnitger organ at the St. the benefits of our choices could only 4' Flauta Ludgerikirche in Norden, Ostfriesland, become fully apparent as the organ is 3' Nasat (c'- d''') Germany. There he developed a played. The enclosed recording by 2' Octave temperament in which neither the Stephen Farr provides a beautiful example 8' Vox Virginia thirds nor the fifths are absolutely pure of this unfolding process. It is our hope Tremulant in the historically important keys, but by that the new organ will be able to bring a seemingly magical coincidence both fresh interpretation to exquisite early Compass: C, D, E – d''', 49 notes undulate and lock together at almost keyboard masterpieces, many of which Gedackt pipes of Black Cherry exactly the same restful rate, more slowly have languished too long in obscurity. Præstant pipes of 85% tin, hand planed than the fifths in meantone (for technical May this recording be the first of many Other metal pipes of 28% tin, hammered details see Specification sheet below.) inspiring musical revelations to come. Soundboard of solid Yellow Poplar, Western The harmonious triads of the Norden Red Cedar, White Oak and White Pine temperament proved so convincing © 2014 George Taylor Case of solid White Oak, fumed in ammonia and stained musically that there was little question Keyboards of White Pine, Turkish Boxwood, Gabon Ebony in our minds that this would be the right Single wedge bellows and blower in base of the organ choice for the Sidney instrument. Wind pressure: 65mm Pitch: A=465Hz It has been an honor for us to build this Temperament: “Norden” is based on a series of seven organ for Sidney Sussex. Rarely do we have fifths narrowed by 1/5th Pythagorean Comma the opportunity to work in such a lovely, welcoming setting. The long and proud history of the chapel inspired our shop to offer its best skills in making an instrument that would enrich the musical life of the college and likewise complement the diverse organ culture of Cambridge. We are grateful to the many who have made the project possible, especially to David More from Stephen Farr & Resonus Classics Stephen Farr contemporary music, having just completed a PhD in this field, and has been involved in J.S. Bach: Clavier-Übung III Stephen Farr is Director of Music at St premieres of works by composers including Stephen Farr Paul’s Church Knightsbridge, a post which Patrick Gowers, Judith Bingham, Francis Pott, The Metzler Organ of Trinity College, Cambridge he combines with a busy career as soloist, Thomas Hyde, and Jonathan Harvey; he RES10120 continuo player, accompanist, and conductor. also collaborated with Thomas Adès in He was of Clare College, a recording of Under Hamelin Hill. '[...] Farr's playing needs no musicological Cambridge, graduating with a double justification; it sparkles and seduces in equal measure’ first in Music and an MPhil in Musicology. His concerto and ensemble work has Classical Ear He subsequently held appointments at included engagements with the Berlin Christ Church, Oxford and at Winchester Philharmonic (with whom he appeared in and Guildford Cathedrals. the world premiere of Jonathan Harvey’s Weltethos under Sir Simon Rattle), the City A former student of David Sanger and a of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the prizewinning performer at international Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the level, he has an established reputation as Ulster Orchestra, the BBC Symphony one of the leading recitalists of his Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Royal generation, with a wide-ranging discography Philharmonic Orchestra and the London © 2014 Resonus Limited to his credit; recent discs for Resonus Mozart Players; he made his debut in è 2014 Resonus Limited Classics of music by J.S. Bach, Judith the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 2005. Recorded in Sidney Sussex College Chapel, Cambridge on 16-17 March 2014 Bingham, and have by kind permission of the Master and Fellows Producer, Engineer and Editor: Adam Binks received unanimous critical acclaim. He has also worked with many other Recorded at 24-bit / 96kHz resolution He has appeared in the UK in venues leading ensembles including Florilegium, Cover image: Detail of the Taylor and Boody organ, Opus 66 © Resonus Limited including the Royal Albert Hall (where he the Bach Choir, the , the Instrument photography © Resonus Limited unless otherwise stated Original drawing and construction images © Taylor and Boody Organ Builders gave the premiere of Judith Bingham’s BBC Singers, Polyphony, The English The Everlasting Crown in the BBC Proms Concert, London Baroque Soloists, DDD – MCPS 2011); Bridgewater Hall; Symphony Hall, City of London Sinfonia, Wallace Birmingham; ; Collection, Academy of Ancient Music, RESONUS LIMITED – LONDON – UK King’s College, Cambridge, St Paul’s Britten Sinfonia, and Celebrity Series and : Players and the Orchestra of the Age [email protected] www.resonusclassics.com he also appears frequently on BBC Radio of Enlightenment. 3 as both performer and presenter. He has a particular commitment to www.stephenfarr.co.uk RES10143