Sit Down Beside Me
In its inimitable style, Pastance again brings together music from the folk traditions and the early music world.
Megan Cronin voice, recorders, shawm, percussion
Myfanwy Dibben voice, recorders
Chris Wheeler voice, baroque guitar, acoustic guitar
James Gastineau-Hills fiddle
Matthew Ridley bass flute
Alex Cronin harp, lute
Alex Cronin composer
Juan Aranés composer
John Dowland composer
Turlough O'Carolan composer
Finbar Furey composer
In its inimitable style, Pastance again brings together music from the folk traditions and the early music world. Played with flair and grace, there are well known songs to sing along with, new compositions for harp by Alex Cronin, hauntingly beautiful Sephardic songs and a couple of up-beat Renaissance dance tunes to get your toes tapping.
The title refers to the chorus from the song “The Next Market Day”. It is also an invitation to set aside the pressures and stresses of modern life and be transported by the music.
The Instruments
Harp – 36 string, Andy Rigby 2000
Lute – 7 course Renaissance lute, Paul Thomson 2000
Baroque Guitar – Strato Anagnostis 1985
Acoustic Guitar – Martin
Recorders – Peter Kobliczek, Moeck
Bass Flute – Boaz Berney 2005
Shawm – Moulder
Violin – German, late 1900s
Artist
Pastance
Pastance came together in 1993 to perform mediaeval and Renaissance music. Based in Sydney, the ensemble has reached the early-music fraternity and a wide public, from folk festivals and formal concerts to schools, corporate feasts and open-air markets.
Tracks
- Wild Mountain Thyme (Scottish) (Traditional)
- Morena (15th century) (Sephardic)
- Fireflight Alex Cronin
- Next Market Day (English) (Traditional)
- The Lonesome Boatman (F. Furey) Finbar Furey
- Skye Boat Song (Scottish) (Traditional)
- O'Carolan's Concerto - T. O'Carolan (1670-1738) Turlough O'Carolan
- Row Weel (Scottish) (Traditional)
- Stella Splendens (14th century) (Anonymous)
- Sumens John Dunstable
- Roma Mail Alex Cronin
- Sentomi la formicula (Italian, 16th century) (Anonymous)
- Chacona Juan Aranés
- Clement's Squirrel / Packington's Pound (English, 17th century) (Traditional)
- Come Away John Dowland
- Puncha (15th century) (Sephardic)
- Tamlin's Fancy Alex Cronin
- Tamlin Alex Cronin (Traditional)
Performers
- Pastance
- Megan Cronin · voice, recorders, shawm, percussion
- Myfanwy Dibben · voice, recorders
- Chris Wheeler · voice, baroque guitar, acoustic guitar
- James Gastineau-Hills
- Matthew Ridley · bass flute
- Alex Cronin · harp, lute
Composers
John Dowland
John Dowland's lute songs and ayres carry a rare, deliberate melancholy: tears that fall in measured pavans, love that stings in galliards, darkness that still sings. His music remains the living heart of the English Renaissance songbook.
Juan Aranés
Juan Arañés wrote Spanish baroque tonos humanos and villancicos, issued in Rome in 1624 with guitar accompaniment. His four-voice chaconne A la vida bona is the piece still most often heard.
Alex Cronin
Multi-instrumentalist Alex Cronin trained as a lutenist in Australia and Holland. As a lutenist and guitarist he has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Brandenburg Orchestra, Opera Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, among others.
John Dunstable
John Dunstable's surviving music is sacred and vocal: isorhythmic motets, mass movements and Marian antiphons built on full triadic harmony, with a liking for thirds and sixths that marked the English manner of the early fifteenth century.
Turlough O'Carolan
Turlough O'Carolan (1670–1738) was a blind Irish harper, composer and singer whose lasting fame rests on his gift for melody. Though not a classical composer in the later sense, he is often called Ireland’s national composer.
Where to listen
Sit Down Beside Me is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MCD 333
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Recording Engineer
- Greg Simmons
- Mastering Engineer
- Meredith Brooks
- Venue
- City Recital Hall, Sydney
NSW Conservatorium of Music - Categories
- Classical, Early music
- Genres
- Early Music, Folk
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574033328
Related recordings
A Valley Fair
Pastance's then most recent offering is a delightful collection of traditional, original and early music for Celtic harp, recorders and voices.
Joy
Joy names the intent behind much of this music: carols of piety, the longing of Landini and Machaut, and Hildegard von Bingen’s soaring beauty. The collection shows how song shaped everyday life in the Middle Ages.
Falling Through Time
All the colour and mystique of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance come alive in a presentation rich in music and drama, spanning troubadour song, Machaut, courtly dance and English lute song.