Fisheries Broadcast Theme

In March 2011, the Fisheries Broadcast had been on air on the CBC for 60 years. In celebration, the hosts solicited listeners' interpretations of the theme music - an arrangement of "Feller From Fortune". A draw would be held among contributors for a prize of a real wooden Grand Banks dory! The TSO didn't have much use for a dory, but decided to enter for the fun of it. Erika Merschrod transcribed the melody by ear and printed it out in all clefs for us to peruse, a few hours before rehearsal. With about twenty minutes of practice and some improvisation from the lower strings, we played it into Kathy McKay's recorder, Erika submitted it, and the Broadcast aired it a few days later! Here's the recording:

More Dory Music

(In case of link rot, try that day's podcast: we're at about 18:45.)

An, er, boatload of fun - thanks to Erika, Kathy and Alison for helping to pull it off!

MUN Communicator Article

Article on us in the MUN Communicator (internal faculty/staff newsletter), Winter 2010:

The other TSO

THE TENACIOUS STRING ORCHESTRA, or TSO as they are known by local music lovers, is a group of individuals with diverse daytime occupations who come together one evening a week to practise and perfect their classical craft. The amateur group of violin, viola, cello and bassists – several of which are Memorial employees in units ranging from the Glenn Roy Blundon Centre to the Faculty of Medicine to Facilities Management, as well as some Memorial students and graduates – gather on Monday nights to breathe life into musical scores by Mozart, Bach, Warlock and Elgar.

Play a stringed instrument and looking for a musical outlet as well as a fun way to spend an evening? The TSO welcomes new members – no audition required! Contact Alison@nf.sympatico.ca.

PDF of original newsletter (we're on page 2)

Cupids 400 show program

Here we are on the Cupids 400 website, all official and everything:

http://www.cupids400.com/english/events/aug10.php#a20

Date: Friday, August 20th

• Event: Madrigals, Mathematics & Mayhem - Music and Tales of the Renaissance
• Location: Cupids United Church
• Time: 7:00 pm
• Free Admission

The Tenacious String Ensemble invites you to come hear the magical music, tales and poetry of the Renaissance. The period of John Guy's life was a fascinating one with many changes - the Earth was found not to be the center of the universe, a new Christian religion was being born, and Western Europe was taking its first fledgling steps into the New World.

Come hear the music of William Byrd and the poetry of William Shakespeare, and learn of the fascinating figures of the time - Galileo, Copernicus, Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell and Sir Walter Raleigh to name but a few. The evening promises to soothe the musical ear and take your imagination into the world of the turn of the 17th century.

Date: Friday, August 20th

• Event: Invitation to the Dance
• Location: Pointe Beach Main Stage, Cupids
• Time: 2:00 pm
• Free Admission

Come see and hear the English Country Dancers accompanied by the Tenacious String Ensemble for an afternoon of lively tunes and traditional English dances of the 17th century! Kick up your heels yourself if you dare, as you're invited to "chasse to the right or left" just as John Guy might have done 400 years ago. This event is an informal, fun demonstration of dances of the 17th and early 18th century, with a chance to try some yourself - a wonderful experience to share with the whole family.

Links to Byrd and Gibbons music

For reference, here are the links to the Werner Icking Music Archive where Alison got our music. She distributed copies with bowings, but here are the notes in case of emergency.

Byrd: Fantazia [a 4 no. 1], Original version (fifth from bottom of list)
Gibbons: Pavane and Galliard (third from top of list)

The Bransles and Tordion from the Capriol Suite are two posts down, posted March 2009.

Bransles

From Hilary: This is some info I extracted from the net about Branles or Bransles. It was a medieval and renaissance dance form derived from words meaning "To brandish" and "to shake". It was danced by couples either in a line or a circle and there are four known forms of the dance. It was mainly found in France but also appears in Italy and Scotland where it was known as a brail. It wasn't danced much in England but there are a few tunes from the period designated as Bransles. It was mainly danced by peasants and pronounced believe it or not as "BRAWL".