VIOLS
Tutors: Hugh Cherry & Ibi Aziz
Location: The West Inn, Llanarmon
Reviewer: Clive Tolley
Report on NWEMF viol weekend, 2–4 March 2012
This was the third annual NWEMF viol weekend with Ibi Aziz and Hugh Cherry, and it has attracted greater numbers than before: a total of 29 people attended (2 tutors, 22 players, 5 accompanying spouses). This is about the maximum number that we can accommodate on the course. The previous two courses have been held at Fort Belan on the Menai Strait, but this year we moved to The West Arms at Llanarmon in the Ceiriog valley, where we had the inn more or less to ourselves.
Nature of the course
The NWEMF viol course is distinguished in certain ways from other courses; some of our aims are:
1. We set a theme, without feeling obliged to stick to it rigidly. (This year we played a lot of Jenkins Fantasies and some Airs, but also covered Purcell, Ferrabosco, Tomkins, Corelli etc. at various points.)
2. Consorts regroup so people play with different participants, in at least four different formations throughout the weekend.
3. There is no need to come as a preformed consort.
4. There is no minimum standard, or requirements such as having to play at least two different viol sizes, though we are not really set up for beginners.
5. We stick firmly to the viol as the primary instrument, but offer opportunities for others such as keyboard players to join too. This year we were unable to find any keyboard players, but two participants brought baroque violins, which enabled us to cover some of Jenkins’s violin music, as well as some other pieces.
Participants’ feed-back was very positive, both about the venue and its idyllic setting, and about the musical experience, and many expressed their hopes of attending again next year, when the course will again be held on the first weekend in March, with a theme of German viol music.
Clive Tolley
First published in April 2012 Newsletter
