Musicians In Ordinary Podcast

John Milton’s Comus - Interview with John Edwards on the music of Comus - Pt. 1

Director Heather Davies and theorbo player and artistic director John Edwards chat about the music in John Milton's masque Comus and especially about the original songs by Henry Lawes.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

John Milton’s Comus - Interview with actor Bethany Jillard

Actor Bethany Jillard chats about  playing the part of The Lady, a role first played by Alice Egerton, the teenaged daughter of  the Earl of Bridgewater, and the similarities and differences between preparing for this role from John Milton's Comus and her experience playing Shakespeare’s women. 
Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.
As a company member with the Stratford Festival in Canada for five seasons, Bethany’s credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Beaux’ Stratagem, Othello, The Three Musketeers, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Little Years, Dangerous Liaisons and Peter Pan. Regional credits include Othello (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Seagull, After Miss Julie and the world premiere of Gone with the Wind (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); How It Works, The Little Years and Cake and Dirt (Tarragon Theatre); My Name Is Rachel Corrie (Theatre PANIK); A Man of No Importance (Acting Up Stage Company); That Face (Canadian Stage Company/Nightwood Theatre) and Tough! (Factory Theatre). Her film and television credits include If I Were You with Marcia Gay Harden (Paragraph Pictures), Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury Films), Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures (The Movie Network), Rookie Blue (ABC) and I Love You ... But I Lied (Lifetime). She is a graduate of the University of Toronto and The Birmingham Conservatory for classical theatre training. Ms. Jillard moonlights as a singer in the band Notes from Underground alongside her husband, Aaron, who is her rock, her inspiration and her joy.

John Milton’s Comus - Interview with director Heather Davies

Director Heather Davies discusses the special challenges of the masque form, Milton’s verse and the rehearsal process in the time of covid with John Edwards.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Heather Davies was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and grew up in Toronto, Ontario. She’s trained as a dancer, singer, actor and musician and has worked professionally since her teens. Heather moved to the UK to continue her actor training; she lived and worked in theatre there for 18 years. In 2001 she began focusing on directing full-time when she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as a resident director, working there for nearly three years. She returned to Canada in 2007 to attend the MFA- Theatre program at York University, graduating in April 2009. From September 2009 to February 2011 she was the Artistic Associate at The Grand Theatre in London Ontario. She continues to enjoy directing, writing, teaching and adapting in the UK and across Canada.

In 2017 Heather became the first Artistic Director of The Ryga Festival, (inspired by renowned Canadian writer, George Ryga) in Summerland, BC and directing Colours in the Storm at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. In 2018, as well as returning to Summerland, Heather’s stage adaptation, Judith: memories of a Lady Pig Farmer, (based on the original novel, Judith, by Alberta writer Ardith Van Herk), will premiere at the Blyth Festival. Other projects in development include Silverfish (an original play about economic migration) and the stage adaptation of Night Desk, (novel by George Ryga).

Music for Comus - Saraband in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

The second Corant in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 

The saraband was a fast vigourous dance when first introduced to the dance suite from the guitar repertoire. We used the Set in F for the dances of the Egerton children in our performance of John Milton's masque Comus.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Music for Comus - Corant 2 in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

The second Corant in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 


Another Corant from the suite we used for the dances of the Egerton children in our performance of John Milton's masque Comus.


Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Music for Comus - Alman 3 in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

The third Alman in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 


We used Lawes' Royal Consort Set 9, a dance suite heavy in Almans, the favourite dance of court masque, as the dances for the Egerton children for our performance of John Milton's domestic masque Comus.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Music for Comus - Corant 1 in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

The first Corant in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 


We used Lawes' Royal Consort Set 9 as the dances for the Egerton children  for our performance of John Milton's masque Comus. An Alman type dance is usually followed by a faster triple time dance in Jacobean court masques. By Lawes’ time the French influence of the courante can be heard in such dances.


Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Music for Comus - Alman 2 in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

The second Alman in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 

We used Lawes' Royal Consort Set 9 as the dances for the Egerton children  for our performance of John Milton's masque Comus. The Alman or Allemande was the staple dance for Stuart court masques.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Music for Comus - Alman 1 in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

The first Alman in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 

We used Lawes' Royal Consort Set 9 as the dances for the Egerton children  for our performance of John Milton's masque Comus. The Alman or Allemande was the staple dance for Stuart court masques. This alman is labelled 'Aire' in some sources.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.

Music for Comus - Pavan in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by William Lawes

A Pavan in F from Royal Consorts Set 9 by by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played by The Musicians In Ordinary string band led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo. 

The stately Pavan was used as an entrance dance in the 16th and 17th century and we used this as an 'overture' for our performance of John Milton's Comus.

Visit https://musiciansinordinary.ca/episodes to click through the series and download mp3s to add to your music playlist.