Renaissance Italian canzonas
BOWED INSTRUMENTS & SOFT WINDS
Tutor: Ali Kinder
St Matthew’s Community Hall, Chapel Lane, Stretford, Manchester M32 9AJ
Reviewer: Frank Gibson
Recorder and strings workshop with Alison Kinder October 2025
We were in Stretford this month, and if you weren’t able to come, I’m afraid you missed a real treat – no singers, no brass, but instead the whole range of recorders including great and contra (also known variously as ‘IKEA recorders’ or even ‘wardrobes’!) adding the most wonderful sound in the lower registers for us; a full complement of viols, and a curtal to add that final special touch. As if this weren’t enough riches, we were also privileged to be accompanied by a spinet, beautifully and expertly played by the organ scholar Thomas Parello.
As is so often the case in these workshops, it is the tutor who can make the day, and this time we certainly had the best. Alison Kinder (Ali) took us through 2- and 3-choir music of several composers: Agostini Sodero, Ludovico da Viadana, Pietro Lappi, Giovanni Priuli, and finally a 12-part canzona by Giovanni Gabrieli, all brought to life by her superb leadership. Her style of focussing on the mood of each choir, the contrasts between the different emotions, and in particular on the
character of each choir, whether playful or gloomy, lively or stolid, allowed us to become really involved in the music and at the same time feel relaxed and even light-hearted. The result was a beautiful sound world not often heard and brought to life both for and by us.
The organisation of over 20 people and 12, or in one case 13 parts, divided into two or three choirs, was a tremendous task which she performed expertly, allocating instruments quickly and efficiently to give the best distribution between the choirs, with no time wasted, no confusion, and everyone fully involved.
It was a real privilege to be part of this workshop, and many thanks must go to the organisers who not only brought it all together, even organising a discount on parking in the nearby Stretford Arndale Centre. (We didn’t actually need it as the parking machines were out of order, but nonetheless!).
All in all, a brilliant day and I for one would love to experience this particular sound world again soon.
Frank Gibson
Published in November 2025 Newsletter
More information about the day
The instrumental canzona was a hugely popular form in Renaissance Italy. Hundreds of canzonas survive, in varied styles and even more varied numbers of parts. In this workshop we will look at pieces in 6 parts, 8-parts in two choirs, 12-parts in three choirs, and somewhat unusually, 13 parts.
The pieces covered in this workshop will be:
Giovanni Priuli (ca.1575-1626) Canzone Quarta à 6
Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612) Canzon XV1 à 12 (3 Choirs)
Agostino Soderino (fl. 1598-1608) ‘L’Angelina’ à 8 and/or Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1560-1627) ‘La Piacentina’ à 8
Pietro Lappi (1575-1630) ‘La Monteverde’ à 13
The Tutor
Alison Kinder is a founder member of Chelys consort of viols where she enjoys researching, performing and recording programmes covering all aspects of consort music. She also has a particular interest in ‘Renaissance’ viols (early viols made with no soundpost) with The Linarol Consort, who play on copies of the earliest surviving viol made by Francesco Linarol. One of her favourite places to be is as the gamba player with Musica Secreta, an all-female polyphonic ensemble specialising in the research and performance of music by and for early modern women.
Alison read music at Oxford University before being given a scholarship by Trinity College of Music where she studied viol with Alison Crum. She was awarded the college’s Silver Medal for Early Music Studies.
A keen teacher of both children and adults, Alison is a tutor on a number of Early Music courses including the Easter Early Music Course, the Renaissance Music Week in Denmark, Cambridge Early Music Summer School, Norvis and HISS. She also regularly leads workshops for the various Early Music Fora. Alison is co-director of Rondo Viol Academy, which runs weekend courses for players of all standards from Elementary to Advanced.
