Birth and re-birth of a genius: The life and times of Marin Marais (born May 31 1656)

by philip | May 23, 2018 | Blog, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts

From the comfort of hindsight, we are easily given to idealized notions of life prior to the 21st century whirl of cars, planes computers and mobile phones that we know so well.  The hard reality of life in past epochs is, however, far from any romantic ideal.  A case...

Marais meets Muffat: viol and violin family live on stage!

by philip | Jun 17, 2017 | Blog, Maris Project Concerts

Two of Sydney’s finest early music ensembles, The Marais Project and The Muffat Collective, in a once-off collaboration! Music by: Jean-Baptiste Lully – “Prologue” from Armide “tragédie en musique” (1686) Marc – Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 1704) – Suite in...

The passing of a Renaissance Man – John (Ben) Hall – painter, architect, instrument maker

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...

Of which French composer was it said, “he had a fertile pen…”

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...

Who was André Campra? The Marais Project present “The French Flute”

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...

Music making and fact-finding in the Far North

by philip | Aug 31, 2016 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts, Non classical music

Musical ambassador meets a real ambassador! I am just back from three weeks of concerts, workshops and musical “fact finding” in Sweden and Norway.  Although my grandfather was Swedish and I have visited many times over the years, this was the first time I...