by philip | Apr 15, 2017 | Blog, Elysian Fields, Marin Marais, Non classical music
A Fête champêtre was a form of 18th century entertainment, a kind of upmarket garden party. It was particularly popular at the French court of Versailles where the surrounding parklands were sumptuously landscaped with pavilions and temples to accommodate parties,...
by philip | Apr 2, 2017 | Blog
Hi to everyone, It’ s been a busy few weeks for The Marais Project and our sister electric viola da gamba group, Elysian Fields. The Marais Project – new CD and second concert for 2017 Producer Llew Kiek and I recently finished editing our latest Marais Project CD and...
by philip | Jan 30, 2017 | Blog
Another sad death, this time the wonderful Dutch instrument maker and baroque music expert, Fred Lindeman. I met Fred when I was a viola da gamba student in Amsterdam in the mid 1980s. He looked after my instrument when I was there and I bought my strings from his...
by philip | Jan 17, 2017 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts
Last night I heard that Ben Hall (1935-2017) had passed away. Ben was a painter, an artist, a musician and a luthier (instrument maker). He was good at everything he did. You may never have heard of him but the Sydney Morning Herald published an on-line and printed...
by philip | Oct 13, 2016 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts
Question: Of which French Baroque composer was it said: “Happy be ‘Composer X’ whose fertile pen can give birth without pain to a whole new book or piece of music every month!” Read on for the answer. We’ve had a great few rehearsals working way through this...
by philip | Oct 4, 2016 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts
Who was André Campra? Campra was the son of an Italian surgeon and violinist and a French mother. He went on to be music master at Arles and Toulouse cathedrals from where he moved to the famed Notre Dame cathedral, Paris. In a radical move for the time, he added...
