Wold Meridian Early Music Publishing

01/04/2025

Very pleased to be asked to demonstrate instruments of the Mediaeval and Renaissance Period at Huttoft Primary School nearby in Lincolnshire. Highly appropriate timeline to play in front of, which made the talk a bit easier. Hopefully some of those that were the same age as myself when I first got in to Early Music might be similarly inspired.

29/11/2024

Here's a gift idea: introduce a friend to renaissance music with Chording to the Dance Masters or Chording to the Consort. These original volumes contain some of the most popular melodies of this era with chords derived from from the harmony lines as published in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
They make ideal presents for instrumentalists who read in the treble clef, or those wishing to play on keyboards. It broadens the pallette for folk musicians and classical players so that they can evoke the sounds of another age. Both books are supported with historical notes and accompanying YouTube videos for each tune in the books, and can be ordered in Print from Amazon or as downloads from Sheet Music Direct or Sheet Music Plus.
https://amzn.eu/d/e8fYw23
https://amzn.eu/d/hbdI7Gs

Chording to the Dance Masters - Melody and chords for 44 Renaissance Dance Consort pieces (The Wold Meridian Mediaeval and Renaissance Performer's Library)

25/11/2024

Quite a few people purchased this on the course From Page to Performance at Halsway Manor, and indeed we enjoyed giving a performance of Sing We. It's available in print from Amazon or can be downloaded from Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus.

A new edition of ten carols in two, three and four parts taken from manuscrips and publications from 1350 -1610 from European sources Contents 1 Nowell Sing We 2 Puer Natus in Bethlehem 3 E la Don Don 4 There is No Rose 5 Make We Joy 6 In Dulci Jubilo 7 Nowel - Out of Your Sleep Arise 8 Riu, Riu,...

01/07/2024

This is early days but this Istampitta Ghaetta is destined for my future publication Mediaeval JOLI (Just One Line Inspiration). I am very excited about this new project.

In it you will find a collection of mediaeval monophonic music together with some special guest contributions by musicians in the field exploring how they approach making these pieces come alive in performance. Istampitta Ghaetta comes from a mediaeval italian musical manuscript dating from the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. It seems to have belonged to the Medici family, and contains among other works 15 textless instrumental pieces.

This will be one of the longest pieces in the book, and yet I believe it requires very little supplementation to make it enjoyable to listen to. The only thing that has been done in this midi arrangement is that the opening and closing parts (aperto and chiusso endings) that are a feature of the istampitta or estampie have been doubled in octaves with additional instruments, and percussion has been added.

The tonality and the rhythmic contrast between triplet and duple time note groupings seem particularly suggestive of an arabic influence. At this time, there are so many ways this might have come to bear on music collected in Florence.

Quite apart from the crusades, Europeans had connections and trade with the kingdom of Al Andalus (part of the Spanish peninsular before 1492) and large Islamic populations in Sicily and the Levant. Mediaeval instruments such as the Shawm, Lute, Rebec and Nakers were very close cousins of instruments used in the arabic world and almost certainly originated there.

11/06/2024

Just completed the project of releasing all the pieces in Chording to the Consort as individual downloads. All 35 pieces are now available as score and parts and can be downloaded from Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct. In addition, every piece now has a set of complimentary YouTube videos, where you can hear the whole piece with historical notes and period art works, and additional videos for learning the alto, tenor and bass lines for each piece, showing how they sound on their own, with the melody line and with the full ensemble. I had already done this for the 44 pieces in the volume Chording to the Dance Master, so now there are 79 thoroughly supported pieces for the Renaissance repertoire.

My videos are only midi realisations, but I should love it if any groups or individuals out there using the publications were to submit videos of their performances of the pieces!

27/05/2024

30/04/2024

Just an update on recent progress at Wold Meridian. Having completed the release of individual scores for Chording to the Dance Master, I am now working on releasing individual scores and parts for the pieces that appeared in Chording to the Consort. As before, these are available to download from Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct. I have also spent quite a bit of time producing YouTube videos in the same fashion as I did with Dance Master, so that there are separate videos featuring each individual harmony line for each piece. These are designed to make reading and performing these pieces easier, and should make a valuable resource for early music enthusiasts.

18/04/2024

Here's a reminder that the new version of Chording to the Dance Masters now comes with full lyrics for the 9 songs that are included. You can also download them as separate pieces from Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. These versions come with full score and separate parts for each of the lines. My YouTube videos are without lyrics (I am not sure I would want to go down the route of synthetically produced vocals- they sound a bit weird to me) so I have dug out a version from a live concert I did with the St Andrews Early Music Society back in the eighties, which is possibly the largest ensemble I have worked with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYEdu4kmq4A

09/04/2024

It's close to lambing season so here is Susato's less well known Schafertanz, (shepherd's dance) transposed for Rauschpfeife. Available in its original key in my Chording to the Dance Masters which you can get from Amazon, Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. (Surprising how much more tolerable a Rauschpfeife is with in-ear earphones!)

09/04/2024

Chording to the Dance Master and its full score version have had a bit of a makeover.

If you want to keep up with updates then you might want to follow the new page Wold Meridian Early Music Publishing

When I released the 44 pieces to download separately for Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct, I decided to re-edit nine of them to include the lyrics for them. This is what I had done with the companion volume Chording to the Consort, and it was nice to be able to open up performances so that they could be enjoyed vocally. It seemed appropriate to put the lyrics into the other versions. Chording to the Dance Master, the version which presents the tunes as melody line and chords for solo and busking playing is now a bit fatter. The Full Score version is now a lot fatter, as it has been presented as a single volume rather than in two volumes, and, as with the single line melody edition, it contains all the lyrics for the nine songs

The songs included are Je Ne Fus Jamais Si Aise - Pierre Certon, Blow Thi Hornne Hunter -William Cornyshe, Pastyme with good companye- Henry VIII,
Dindirin, Dindirin & Pase El Agoa -Anon Spanish - Cancionero de Palacio
Helas Madame - Henry VIII, Pavan Belle Qui Tiens Ma Vie - Thoinot Arbeau,
Tant que Vivray- Claudin de Sermisy and Todos Los Bienes - Juan del Encina

As before these are available to download from Sheet Music Plus, Sheet Music Direct or in printed versions from Amazon.

By the way, if you already own a version of Chording to the Dance Masters and it does not contain the lyrics for these songs, please message me with an email address, and I can send you the PDF individual versions of the songs free of charge so that you do not miss out.

03/04/2024

New Omnibus Version of Chording to the Dance Master just released

I have re-edited the full score version of Chording to the Dance Master and it is now available as a single volume with all 44 pieces collected together in full score versions. Unlike the two volumes it replaces, this version now has all the lyrics, but thanks to the very reasonable print costs offered by Amazon Kindle Direct Printing, the very much heftier volume does not have to cost an arm and a leg, and will actually cost just three quarters of the price of book 1 and book 2 together.

Content of Chording to the Dance Masters

In 3 parts
Je Ne Fus Jamais Si Aise (with lyrics) - Pierre Certon -1542
Blow Thi Hornne Hunter (with lyrics) -William Cornyshe c.1500
Pastyme with good companye (with lyrics) - Henry VIII

In 4 parts
Pavane Bittre Reue (Mille Regretz) - Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Gaillarde Traditore - Pierre Phalese 1571
Schafertanz Ohne Fels (Bergeret Sans Roch) - Tielmann Susato - Dansereye 1551
Tedesca e Salterello - Giorgio Mainerio - Il Primo Libro De Balli 1578
Bransle de Champaigne X, XI and Bransle III - Claude Gervaise
Putta Nera (Ballo Furlano) - Pierre Phalese - Antwerp 1583
Narrenaufzug (Parade de Bouffons) Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Pass'emezzo della Paganina - Pierre Phalese - Antwerp 1583
Schafertanz- Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Laroque Gaillarde - Pierre Phalese 1571
Gaillarde d'Ecosse - Pierre Phalese 1571
Allemande No 1 - Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Ballet CCLXVIII - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
Dindirin, Dindirin (with lyrics) -Anon Spanish - Cancionero de Palacio
Pase El Agoa (with lyrics) -Anon Spanish - Cancionero de Palacio
Ronde Mein Freund (Mon Amy) - Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Helas Madame (with lyrics) - Henry VIII
Pavane Wenn durch Leiden (Si Par Souffrir) - Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Ballet du Roy CCLXIX - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
Regina & Sophia - Erasmus Widmann - Nürnberg 1613
Pavan Belle Qui Tiens Ma Vie (with lyrics) - Thoinot Arbeau - Orchesographie 1589
Basse Dance Magdalena and Tourdion -Pierre Attaignant - Erstes Tanzbuch 1530
Tant que Vivray (with lyrics) - Claudin de Sermisy
Bransles de Champagne III & XII - Claude Gervaise - Sixième Livre de Danceries, Paris 1555
Pavane El Bisson - Anon Italian c.1550
Passamezzo d'Italye, Reprinse et Gaillarde - Pierre Phalese 1571
Mohrentanz (La Mourisque)- Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Bransle de la Royne- Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
Pavane La Venissiene - Claude Gervaise - Quart Livre de Danceries Paris 1550
Battle Pavan - Tielman Susato - Dansereye 1551
Ballets des Baccanales, des Feus, des Coqs - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
Schiarazula Marazula - Giorgio Mainerio - Il Primo Libro De Balli 1578
Todos Los Bienes (with lyrics) - Juan del Encina - Cancionero de Palacio
Pavane de Spaigne - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
Ballo Francese - Giorgio Mainerio - Il Primo Libro De Balli 1578

In 4 and 5 parts
Ballets des Baccanales, des Feus, des Coqs - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612

In 5 parts
Basse Dance 1 -Pierre Attaignant - Erstes Tanzbuch 1530
Volta CCX, CCXI, CCI - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
Bransle de La Torche - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612
The Earl of Essex Galliard - John Dowland 1605
Pavanne d'Angleterre - Claude Gervaise - Sixieme Livre de Danceries Paris 1555
Gavottes 1,2,3 & 6 - Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore 1612

03/04/2024

Wold Meridian News, April (continued)

Recently I completed publishing what I call my “single shots” from the content of Chording to the Dance Masters. What this means is each of the 44 pieces that originally appeared in Chording to the Dance Masters are now available to download from either Sheet Music Direct or Sheet Music Plus individually.

Basically, for the price of a cup of coffee, you get the piece of your choice in score form with chords derived from the harmonies in the parts together with separate parts for each of the lines. Included in the download are links to the main video on YouTube, so you can hear how the piece goes and see historical background information for each of the pieces, and also links to individually created videos for each of the harmony lines. I think these will be particularly helpful for anyone who is less confident about reading these inner lines (admit it, we’ve all been there some time or other!).

While I was re-editing these pieces for this project, it seemed good to provide the lyrics for any of the pieces that had them, so that individuals or ensembles could enjoy some vocal input.

With the work done for the individual pieces, it seemed like time to revisit the original editions.

Chording to the Dance Master was my first publication. In essence, it was a Fake Book or Lead Book for 44 of my favourite Renaissance tunes, bringing chords to the melody lines that accurately reflected the harmonies in the original 3,4 or 5 part pieces. It gave the solo performer, or a pair of performers the ability to enjoy these pieces without having the full numbers of musicians needed to perform the works as originally published.

The two subsequent volumes published the tunes from Dance Master in full score versions, so that the same tunes could be played with all their original harmony lines and also with the chords I had added. This gives maximum flexibility to performance and arrangements. When I originally released these, the printing costs would not really allow all the 44 tunes to be included in one volume, and so splitting these and releasing them as two volumes seemed the answer, although it was far from ideal. From today this is no longer the case.