Heritage & Interpretation Information, Richard York

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Interpretation and Performance

	SOLO: Victorian street Musician, Tudor liveried musician, Tudor jobbing musician, One of Brueghl's bagpipers, medieval musician... or DUO with my wife Elizabeth York, to include her harps, voice, and other instruments... Liz and I have performed together for more than 20 years, but only recently has she become available for heritage work. And yes, they are our real names. So our parents knew we'd end up playing historical music together? Did the people like us as a duo? "Loved your music and dance. It has been the highlight of our trip thus far." - e-mail, Aug 2005, after our visit to Epping Forest's Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge; and in response to my reply: "You can feel welcome to quote us...we would indeed be honoured." (Thanks, Bill & Olive in Tasmania!) "an afternoon of pure magic." - visitor's book at Lyddington Bede House, English Heritage site in Rutland. ... and the fact of our getting a very large proportion of re-bookings following gigs we work.

Here we are at the anniversary of Parson Latham's Charity, in the chapel of the almshouses at Barnwell in Northants. Liz is playing her Venetian double harp	... and on your right, we're in one of our period style tents, still being Tudor, but less high society!

17th Century us, at Kenilworth Castle, armed with a renaissance guitar and a bass curtal, outside our larger early tent.	Helmsley Castle, English Heritage, where we performed music for a medieval Christmas. And yes, it was cold! We're indebted to Nils Devine for his very atmospheric picture.

So Who Books Me/Us?

Recent and current clients, both greater and smaller, include:

The V&A
English Heritage
The National Trust
Beamish Museum
The Tower of London
Tullie House, Carlisle
Blakesley Hall, Birmingham
Kettering Museum & Art Gallery
Coventry and Warks. Promotions
The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Local Historical Societies from Mill Hill to Moulton
Historical Promotions and Leisure Management,
The Grosvenor Museum, Chester
The Salt Museum, Northwich
Northampton Museums
Bedesworld, Jarrow
St. Albans Museum
Griffin Historical
Dover Museum
Age Concern
U3A

and lots more

What do I Offer?

Whether you need a medieval musician, a Tudor or 17th Century player, or a Victorian street musician, I bring a large collection on instruments
and expertise in presenting them.
I'm only half joking when I claim that in my job the first qualification is to able to carry everything, the second to talk about it,
and the third to play it.
More people than I can count, at more sites than I can remember, have told me that my music "brings the whole thing to life."

Music is very emotive. It's also played on a range of fascinating instruments which combine art with the latest in period technology.
Together with the actual music this combination of artefact and sound can open a revealing window on the people and the times which produced them.
The stories I tell and illustrate give more understanding of the different strata of society of the time; shedding light on the people the musicians
were, or worked for.

While all this sounds serious, it's presented in an entertaining and sometimes irreverent way, which involves adults and children.
It's quite usual for a crowd to remain absorbed for over half an hour.

There is much more than I can write and illustrate here
For the time being, a few pictures:

Goodrich Castle, English Heritage	Demonstration of use of artefacts at Coventry (... but it's not authentic Ale - alcohol & me don't get on well, it's just non-authentically clean water!)
Joining in with my shawm at Clifford's Tower, York.
	A Visitor trying his hand at the clarsach, Coventry, National Heritage Weekend, 2000. I'm particularly proud of this set of clothes. The present Major Sir Hereward Wake, Bart. M.C., has given me permission to reconstruct a possible liveried musician to his family of the 16th century, wearing his colours and sporting his badge.
Boscobel House, E.H. again, Victorian musician. The handcart has acquired more paintwork since this was taken.
	The hallowed semi darkness of the Victoria & Albert Museum's Musical Instruments gallery, where I was giving an informal lecture-recital to family visitors including family groups... and where there is a SUPERB echo!

... but there will be more! Please come back later!

INSTRUMENTS

Meanwhile, I advertise myself as having "an unreasonably large collection of instruments." So what do I bring?
Depending on the needs of the occasion, I draw on the following:
Bagpipes, from medieval style, through huge Flemish pipes after Brueghl, to Bellows-blown border pipes - six sets in all;
Recorders, from sopranino to bass;
Shawm, rauschpfeife, Bass Curtal; crumhorns, cornamusen;
Three-holed tabor pipes, including a Mary Rose replica, and one closely like a victorian example in the V&A;
Hurdy Gurdies, one elate medieval/Tudor style, and one 17th/18/19th century pattern;
Portative organ;
Wire-strung harps, from a tiny medieval pattern to a large renaissance style clarsach; and a gut strung gothic harp;
a very rare Key Fiddle
Various percussion - tabors, nakers, string drum, medieval cymbals, medieval bells, rommelpot, etc; (A rommelpot isn't really percussion at all, it's more a stroked membranophone, but it seemed to fit in here.)
Citterns, psalteries, early dulcimer;
concertinas;
accordeon;
hammer dulcimer;
harmonium;
and several more...
SO quite a lot, really.
In duet, Elizabeth adds a large gothic bray harp, a double harp after Vincente Galileo, a small medieval harp, renaissance guitar, and an 1833 original pedal harp, as well as singing, and playing many of the ones listed above.

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