News from the Lute Society

1. LUTE CONCERT, NORWICH 15th AUGUST

Il Divino and the English Orpheus
A lute recital of music by Francesco da Milano and John Dowland
Jacob Heringman
Saturday 15th August
7.30 pm
King of Hearts, Fye Bridge Street, Norwich NR3 1LJ
http://tinyurl.com/mckcrg

Tickets £10 (£6 concessions)
Box Office 01603 611423
http://www.kingofhearts.org.uk/

A concert exploring music from two of the finest renaissance lutenist composers and by one of the finest contemporary players. This is a rare chance to hear Jacob Heringman in Norwich.

The concert is promoted as part of the 10th international lutemaking summer school where two renaissance lutes are being made for use in the Norfolk schools lute project. http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/summers.htm



2. LUTE SOCIETY SUMMER PARTY SATURDAY 5th SEPTEMBER

Members are warmly invited to the Lute Society summer party at 6.00 pm, Saturday 5th September 2009, at the home of John and Joyce Reeve with music from 6.30, performed by Bill Carter and Lynda Sayce. Food and drink kindly supplied by the hosts

RSVP!!!! Please contact: jreeve@dsl.pipex.com if you’d like to attend.

Places are usually limited to 50, so reply soon to avoid disappointment.



3. RADIO 4 PROGRAMME ON GESUALDO

Thought you might like to know about this. Also goes out Sat 8th Aug at 3.30pm. Or you can hear it after the Saturday repeat on www.bbc.co.uk/radio4, or you can catch it on the Listen Again function until next Monday.

Gesualdo – Musician and Murderer
Tuesday 4 August
1.30-2.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Aled Jones tells the curious story of composer Carlo Gesualdo – Third Prince of Venosa, Eighth Duke of Gesualdo – who was the primary suspect for the murder of his wife and her lover.
As the programme explores the strange values of four centuries ago, it is tempting to see a relationship between the double murder, for which he was famed throughout Italy, and his music. Yet as Gesualdo's biographer Glenn Watkins states, it was the custom in Italy for a man to uphold his family's honour.

A visit to Gesualdo's castle, currently being restored, takes listeners to the scene of his country retreat. But the biggest key to his state of mind is, perhaps, his music. Gerald Place and the fellow singers of the Gesualdo Consort demonstrate some of the music's beauty, and intrinsic peculiarity, as the composer sets up extraordinary difficulties of pitch and intonation. Singing about the torments of love, and about death, listeners perhaps see a parallel between his art and his life.

The merits of Gesualdo's writing have been hotly contested over the centuries, but he is now being appreciated as a composer of great skill – as well as one of a highly complex, yet fascinating character.

Presenter/Aled Jones, Producer/Geoff Ballinger

4. PETITION TO REFORM THE LICENSING ACT
Those who were members five or six years ago will remember our little part in campaigning against the current Licensing Act, which adds bureaucracy and cost to the business of putting on small live music concerts, or prevents them altogether. One could have foreseen that this matter would not lie, so thanks to Ray Black for passing on the following:


The LibDem Party have proposed a Live Music Bill, which will exempt venues with a capacity smaller than 200 from music licensing, exempt performances by two musicians or fewer and ban the Form 696.

The Bill has passed its first reading and will be debated later this year.

Please support this Bill by signing the No 10 Petition at:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/livemusicevents/

The petition reads:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop criminalizing live music with the Licensing Act, and to support amendments backed by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and the music industry, which would exempt most small-scale performances in schools, hospitals, restaurants and licensed premises. Under the Licensing Act, a performance by one musician in a bar, restaurant, school or hospital not licensed for live music could lead to a criminal prosecution of those organising the event. Even a piano may count as a licensable 'entertainment facility'. By contrast, amplified big screen broadcast entertainment is exempt. The government says the Act is necessary to control noise nuisance, crime, disorder and public safety, even though other laws already deal with those risks. Musicians warned the Act would harm small events. About 50% of bars and 75% of restaurants have no live music permission. Obtaining permission for the mildest live music remains costly and time-consuming. In May, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee recommended exemptions for venues up to 200 capacity and for unamplified performance by one or two musicians. The government said no. But those exemptions would restore some fairness in the regulation of live music and encourage grassroots venues.