1-8 August 2026 CONSORT WEEK
Renaissance Music from the Republic of Venice
Josquin – Isaac – Agricola – Compere – Obrecht - Andrea & Giovanni Gabrieli
The Renaissance Workshop Summer School 2025 will take place in the historic town of Wolfenbüttel, home to Michael Praetorius and Johann Rosenmüller. Also Johann Theile, Reinhard Keiser, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Heinrich Graun, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and many other great composers were linked to this most important art loving court. Today it is known for the Herzog-August-Bibliothek, one of the greatest libraries in the world. The churches were Praetorius and Rosenmüller worked and are buried still stand and the town is absolutely charming, nothing more then a short walk away.
Ottaviano Petrucci was the first to print polyphony with movable letters in Venice from 1501 on. 'La Serenissima' enjoyed a wealth of fantastic music and so did the towns around like Bassano, Mantua, Padova and Ferrara. Composers from all over Europe came to study and have their music printed in Venice due to the superior quality of the workshops there.
As always in the Consort Week we focus on polyphonic music, often based on vocal originals. The bulk of music will come from Petrucci's Odecathon prints 1501, 1502, 1503. These include the greates names of Franco-Flemisch composers of the time and also their Italian students. But thinking of Venice there are always the Gabrielis, uncle and nephew, and their poly-choral music to be played from the balconies of the main churches. Since we are welcome guest at the church Beata Maria Virgine, right opposite of the Prinzenpalais, we can recreate the situation there.
Our team of teachers is the same as every year for the Summer School:
Amanda Markwick - Renaissance flute consort
Ibrahim Aziz - Renaissance viol consort
Michael Dollendorf - Renaissance recorder consort
We'll be working at 408 Hz for viols and flutes and at 460 Hz for recorder, cornettos and sackbuts. Since we have matched sets of recorders, flutes, cornettos and viols at these pitches, exactely a whole step apart for easy transpositions. For the wind players we provide these consort instruments. We do have a nice consort of Henry Jaye viol copies at 408 and also some Venetian style viols at 460 for players from abroad who don't want to fly with their instruments. If you have Renaissance viols - that would be great.
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Registration ends on 15 June 2026 but we work on a first come first serve basis. The number of participants is limited to six per instrument. Please sign up early. It helps us a lot with the planing ...
Once we received your registration form and payment, we send you the bulk of the music, so you can prepare for up to one year.
Each class needs four participants to make it happen, the maximum number is six. This is to ensure intense work. We reserve the right to cancel the class if there aren't enough registrations. In this case the full amount will be refunded. Participants can also cancel until 15 June 2026 and get a refund. If you have to cancel thereafter, you are free to send somebody else to take your spot and replace you but we can't pay you back.
The workshop starts with a reception at 4:00 pm on Saturday 1 August at the Prinzenpalais, and some ensemble playing with everybody. There will be a guided tour through town at some point. Visits to the famous Herzog-August library and the Palace Museum should be arranged during lunch breaks. The Prinzenpalais has no weelchair access. If you have special needs, please tell us before you register and we see how we can accommodate you. Classes are 9:30 am - 1:00 pm and 2:30 - 6:00 pm. The Summer School ends Saturday 8 August at 1:00 pm.
Price: the Renaissance Workshop Summer School is € 630,- for the week. Active participants only. There is no such thing as 'just sitting in as a listener'.
Sign up: your are registered after we received your registration form and your money transfer.
Getting there: Wolfenbüttel is a 10 minutes train ride south of Braunschweig. If you fly into Berlin it takes about two hours to get there, from Hannover it's just an hour.
Staying there: There is a Jugendgästehaus, a Bundesakademie, many hotels, holiday apartments and a campground. Please arrange for your own housing according to your needs and budget. Jugendgästehaus is very nice and close to the Villa Seeliger and the Rosenmüller church, the Hotel Bayrischer Hof is the most central, the Park Hotel the most fancy.... your choice....