REINING IN THE DONKEY

The choirs were kept together by a maestro conducting with a roll of paper.  That beat was relayed by special sub-conductors (their sole job) to the other choirs.

A bizarre feature of these Roman masses is called ‘TIRARE LA MULA’ (REINING IN THE DONKEY). In it, the sopranos of all the choirs spread out around the church sang slow held notes (the priest desperately trying to ‘rein in the donkey’) while the lower singing parts (the frantic donkey’s legs) move rapidly underneath.

Did Handel borrow this idea on his visit to Rome for the second part of the Halleluiah Chorus (‘King of Kings’ etc)?

“…this ravishing new disc…  Benevoli’s seamless architecture, his free-flowing polychoral expansionism, takes extravagant flight… theatricality inspired by such colossal basilicas as St Peter’s in Rome.” The Scotsman

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES

With such ‘new’ repertoire, a performance can be a territory premiere and also programmed with (for example) Carissimi’s Jephte or works of Monteverdi.

I Fagiolini can perform on its own but also with a suitable local ensemble / youth or university choir. Contact us to discuss how this could work for you - mail@ifagiolini.com

Robert Hollingworth has already conducted performances at the University of York, Stour Music and Dartington Summer School with more planned in Oxford and Berlin.  Connections with food (Benevoli's father was a French pastry chef) and art/achitecture of the period are also possible.

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Session photography by Matthew Brodie