Welcome - I'm Paul Bracken, a pianist, singer and composer based at Pontesbury, near Shrewsbury, available for weddings, and other functions. I've an extensive repertoire of piano music including classical, jazz/blues and contemporary. I also have a strong research interest in early vocal music, particularly the transcription and editing of early song manuscripts, church music etc.
Currently, I'm the director of Cornovian Singers, a new community choir based in Pontesbury. We perform mostly Christian music (often a capella) at community/charity events, and at churches where there is no existing choir. Cornovian Singers were established in 2023, and are developing an unusual repertoire: 'early music', gospel, and some contemporary pieces written especially for us, including anthems, psalm settings, a complete setting of the Eucharist Service, and new settings of important Latin texts of the Christian church (Agnus Dei, Sanctus/Benedictus, Ave Maria, Pater Noster etc).
Background and experience: After many years teaching in secondary schools and FE Colleges, I received my PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2001, and taught at the University of Nottingham, University of Keele, Nagoya City University (Japan) and on various Adult Education programmes in the UK. I've also been a regular contributor to the early music journal The Consort for 10 years, and have published on various 'early music' related topics, notably early vocal music 1100-1600. My PhD research and publications concern particularly the songs of the troubadours and trouveres and associated traditions such as the Old French Chansons de geste.
Although I'm primarily a pianist/composer, I'm also an experienced church organist and choirmaster, with Diocesan Lay Ministry Certificates in Worship and Music, and also in Adult Education. I've played in numerous churches, both Anglican and Catholic since 1988 - and my most recent posts have been as organist and choirmaster of St Giles, West Brigford 2015-2020 and as organist and choirmaster of St George's, Pontesbury 2020-2023. Do please get in touch if you'd like Cornovian Singers to perform at your church, or if you'd like me to work with your choir, teach or run a workshop. I'm also available to perform at weddings, conferences, festivals, museums or book launches with historical themes etc. There's a list of publications below, and also a list of previous events, with some relevant testimonials.
Publications:
'Praga Rosa Bohemiae: Music in Renaissance Prague' Consort LXXVI (2020) 136-7.
'Johannes de Lymburgia: Gaude felix Padua' Consort LXXVI (2020) 134-6.
'The Dufay Spectacle: motets and chansons of Guillaume Dufay' Consort LXXV (2019) 139-141.
'A Critical Companion to Medieval Motets' Consort LXXV (2019) 98-101.
'Le Codex de Chypre' Consort LXXIV (2018) 122-4.
'Machaut: a burning heart' Consort LXXIII (2017) 145-6.
'Ramon Llull (1232-1316): un viatge medieval' Consort LXXIII (2017) 144-5.
'The Ars Musica attributed to Magister Lambertus/Aristoteles' Consort LLXXII (2016) 110-113.
'Senza Vestimenta: the literary tradition of Trecento Song' Consort LLXXI (2015) 95-7.
'The Art of Grafted Song: citation and allusion in the age of Machaut' Consort LLXXI (2015) 93-5.
‘Minstrels and trobadors, c. 1150-c.1350: professionals or not?’ Consort LXX (2014) 1-15.
'The Ars Musica attributed to Magister Lambertus/Aristoteles' Consort LLXXII (2016) 110-113.
‘Songs in British Sources, c. 1150-c.1300’ Consort LXX (2014) 125-6.
‘Medieval English Lyrics and Carols’ Consort LXX (2014) 111-2.
‘The Vision of Music in Hildegard’s Scivias: synthesising image, text, notation and theory’ (Review) Consort LXX (2014) 108-9.
‘Neidhart: a Minnesinger and his ‘Vale of Tears’ – songs and interludes’ (Review of Naxos CD 8.572449) Consort LXX (2014) 145-6.
‘The Refrain and the Rise of the Vernacular in Medieval French Music and Poetry’ Consort LXX (2014) 109-111.
‘Tristan’s Harp: Arthurian Medieval Music’ (Review of Naxos CD 8.572784) Consort LXX (2014) 146-7.
Accompanying Trobador and Trouvère Song’, Consort LXIX (2013) 3-19.
‘Conductus: music and poetry from 13th-century France’ (Review of Hyperion CDA 67949) Consort LXIX (2013) 135- 7.
‘Le Codex de Chypre: Torino, Biblioteca Universitaria J.II.9’ (Review) Consort LXIX (2013) 114-6.
‘Performance and the Middle English Romance’ (Review) Consort LXIX (2013) 102-4.
‘Bede: a sequence of music and words’ (Review) Consort LXIX (2013) 133-4.
‘Singing Trouvère and Trobador Chansons: Vocal Style in Medieval Song’, Consort LXVIII (2012) 3-25.
‘Medieval Song in Romance Languages’ Consort LXVIII (2012) 116-18.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrims: Music for Chaucer’s Prologue’ (Review) Consort LXVIII (2012) 150-152.
‘Musical Instruments and the Performance of Medieval Song’, Consort LXVII (2011) 3-22.
‘The Renaissance Reform of Medieval Music Theory: Guido of Arezzo, Myth and History’ (Review) Consort LXVII (2011) 107-109.
‘Chansons de geste: the peripheralization of a central tradition’, in: Smith, P. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the British Society for the Study of French History (2003) Special issue of Nottingham French Studies XLIV (2005) 5-19.
‘Halt sunt li pui: towards a performance of the Song of Roland’, Nottingham Medieval Studies XLVII (2003) 73-106.
‘Quality Issues and Cultural Tourism: the changing role of reconstructions and musical performances’, Proceedings of the De Haan Tourism and Management Conference II (2003) 70-75.
‘The Myth of the Medieval Minstrel: interdisciplinary approaches to the performers of the Old French chansonnier repertory’, Viator, XXXIII (2002) 100-116.
Other publications include Music Businesses in the Greater Nottingham Area: evidence for a functional business cluster, a report commissioned by the Nottingham City Council in partnership with the University of Nottingham Business School in 2003. I've written numerous concert programme and CD liner notes, magazine articles, book and concert reviews, and contributed articles to the British Heritage Database (2000 Project CD Rom) on various subjects including ‘Music in Medieval Britain’; ‘John Dunstable’; ‘Chansons de geste’ etc.
Lecture Recital Programmes and Testimonials:
There's a list of recital programmes below, although I'm happy to create a unique, 'bespoke' programme for your event, or provide recorded soundtracks for exhibitions. The USP of these is their historic content, although I often include a humorous items in the recital programmes, juxtaposing music from various periods and genres - often twentieth-century material and new compositions related to the theme are included. The ‘War and Memory’ programme given to the British Association for Japanese Studies Conference, at the University of Nottingham included songs about war, mostly by soldiers from 12th-20th centuries. One of the most popular recitals is Non angli, sed angeli a ground-breaking recital covering a thousand years of English song originally given in Japan, subsequently presented at the centenary conference of the Royal Historical Association (University of Nottingham) in 2006 and given thereafter at various conferences and festivals.
The lecture recitals have taken me to university conferences at Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Cardiff and Kent, as well as to historic churches and cathedrals (including Canterbury and Lincoln) and even to the Yamaha Concert Hall in Nagoya, Japan! I recorded a soundtrack used for exhibitions in France - notably at the Military Museum (Les Invalides) in Paris and the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. In Japan, I gave recitals of English and French song at the Nagoya University Museum, the Yamaha Chamber Music Hall (also in Nagoya) and at the Lebhafte Halle in Kobe (2004-5).
UK recitals include: 'Pack up your Sea Stores: Songs of the Atlantic, c. 1580-1850', originally developed for the Atlantic Trade Conference, University of Nottingham, 2008; a programme of medieval English song in Canterbury Cathedral (originally for the International Chaucer and Christianity Conference); a recital of Robin Hood ballads and medieval songs (first given at the University of York); recitals of medieval song for the opening of the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds in 1998, 2000 and 2002; a recital of medieval French song for the Avignon Papacy Conference at the University of Nottingham (2002); recital for the International Society for French History at the University of Nottingham (2002) and a commissioned recital on the theme ‘War and Memory’, for the British Association for Japanese Studies (2002).
April, 2008: ‘Pack up your sea-stores: ballads and songs of the Atlantic, c. 1580-c. 1850’, Conference Recital for the International Atlantic History Conference, University of Nottingham.
December, 2007: ‘Songs of the Hundred Years War, 1337-1453’, Recital marking the opening of the Chronicles of Froissart exhibition at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds.
October, 2007: ‘Music Renewed, Music Restored’, Joint Recital with Eleanor Novotko (harpsichord) in the Music at Dingley Hall Chamber Music Series.
September, 2006: ‘Fair Stands the Wind for France’, Lecture-Recital exploring the cultural connections between England and France from 1066 to the present, given in Lincoln Cathedral Library, and supported by an exhibition of early books and manuscripts reflecting the themes in the recital.
April, 2006: Solo Recital, ‘Non angli, sed angeli: a thousand years of English song’, given for the Centenary Conference of the Royal Historical Association at Nottingham. (DVD available.)
July, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Non angli, sed angeli: a thousand years of English song’, joint recital with historical narration by Professor Michael Jones, given as part of the Nottinghamshire Festival of the Beck.
April, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Golden Ages: English and French Song’, Lebhaft Halle (Yamaguchi Recital Hall) Kobe, Japan
March, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Golden Ages: English and French Song’, Yamaha Recital Hall, Fushimi (Nagoya), Japan.
February, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Mistral’s European Tour’, Yakuzen-APA Gallery Concert Series, Nagoya, Japan.
December, 2004: Solo Recital, ‘Non angli, sed angeli: a thousand years of English song’, given as part of the NUMCo. Series, at Nagoya University Museum, Japan.
July, 2003: ‘Chaucer’s Music’, Recital given in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, for the International Chaucer and Christianity Conference.
July, 2003: ‘Medieval Songs and Robin Hood Ballads’, Recital for the International Robin Hood Conference at the University of York.
April, 2003: ‘Outremer: chansons de croisade et de la mer’, Recital of Medieval and Modern French Song for the International Society for the Study of French History.
July, 2002: ‘Outremer: Songs of Medieval France, the Crusades and the Sea’, Lecture-recital for the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds.
April, 2002: ‘War and Memory’, Recital for the British Association for Japanese Studies Conference, at the University of Nottingham.
May, 2000: ‘Outremer: Songs of Medieval France, the Crusades and the Sea’, Emerging Artists Recital at Boston ‘Stump’ (St. Botolph’s) Church.
July, 1998: ‘A Knightly Serenade: soldiers’ songs’, Lecture-recital at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds.
Testimonials:
Dear Paul,
I should like to thank you very much for entertaining us at our annual Conference Dinner at the University of Nottingham. On behalf of the BAJS Council, and, I am sure, all the delegates at the Conference, our comment would be 'Captivating!'. The performance kept usually talkative academics enthralled (and quiet except for the explosions of applause) throughout the performance. Your humorous narrative, combined with talented and skillful rendition of both period and contemporary music were an absolute delight, and provided a welcome diversion after a busy but productive day of academic discussion.
Thanks once again,
Yours sincerely,
Professor Glenn D. Hook (President).
Dear Paul,
I wanted to say thank you very much indeed for giving us such a wonderful meeting at Norwell. It’s not what we usually do, but everyone enjoyed it enormously. It was an ideal combination of historical information and music which it was a pleasure to listen to. I'm pasting in a comment I had in an email from someone who was there last night.
'Thoroughly enjoyed last night's Music in the 1920's. What a talented and knowledgeable musician. Excellent!'
It sums up what we all felt. People are already saying when can he come again. We’re looking into it! There are so many things we could ask you to do.
Thank you again for a brilliant evening,
Dr Elizabeth Jones.
Dear Paul,
I'm writing on behalf if my colleagues to thank you most sincerely for the excellent performance you gave at the University on September 11th at the CAROM fund raising event. As an evening's entertainment, your chosen theme of entente cordiale proved to be inspired, all were delighted with the range of English and French music you performed. When you said the evening would range from 'troubadour to Aznavour', you clearly weren't joking! Also, your suggestion of turning the venue into a 'French Bistro' for the night proved to be exactly right for this informal but black tie evening: all our guests were able to really relax and enjoy your music. No wonder we substantially overachieved our fundraising target! Thank you on behalf of a grateful and delighted audience.
Ivor Perry, MA, BPhil, MBA (Senior Lecturer, De Montfort University).
Dear Paul,
This is a letter to thank you for the excellent lecture-recital (One Thousand Years of English Song) given at the Nagoya University Museum on December 20th. It was a most impressive concert - never to be forgotten, well-designed, historically interesting and musically thought-provoking. Thank you very much, once again. I look forward to your next concert at the Lebhafte Halle in March.
best wishes, Professor Mamoru Adachi (Museum Director).
After dinner, Paul Bracken of the University of Nottingham entertained us with his delightful versions of classic Robin Hood ballads and other medieval music - including 'Robin Hood and his meiny' (an excerpt from the Gest) and as well as other ballads including 'Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford', and 'Robin and the Friars'. For an encore, he sang a funny composition about Charles de Gaulle! I hope that Paul will release a CD of his Robin Hood ballads to stand alongside Bob Frank's own marvelous version of the Gest.
A. Wright, Bold Outlaw website.
Dear Paul,
I'm writing to thank you very much indeed for the superb concert you gave in Norwell last week as part of the Nottinghamshire Festival of the Beck. One Thousand Years of English Song in music and words was indeed a challenge. We were so impressed by the accomplishment with which you moved through the centuries, and many people spoke of their enjoyment of the combination of music and narration.
I enclose your fee, and thank you once again for giving us such a memorable evening.
Dr. E M Jones (Norwell PCC).
Reviews and Comments:
Review (abridged) from Peter Palmer in the Nottingham Evening Post, 23 September, 1992 - 'A Trip to the Past'
'Even the English Civil War begins to seem a mite parochial compared to the Crusades waged in the Middle ages by well-meaning Christians. The dust has long since settled, but the music remains - it was performed with great enthusiasm and no little science in Paul Bracken's one-man troubadour show for Rushcliffe Festival last night. The history added an extra dimension to the music - he touched on subjects including economics (what medieval travelers did in the days before Eurocheques) weaponry (the crossbow sounds especially nasty) and sacred relics. Paul also introduced the audience at All Hallows Church to the Knights Templar and to medieval legends such as the tale of the Saracen's Head. His musical means were equally assorted - one moment he was singing to a harp accompaniment, the next playing the Glastonbury pipe. Modern technology allowed him to simulate a hurdy gurdy, the outlandish drums known as nakers, and to sing a duet with his own voice. The medieval songs included a poignant farewell to a crusader and a mystical hymn to the Holy Land, with sources including the troubadours of southern France, Walter von der Vogelweide and a French song by Richard Lionheart. The recital marked the 800th anniversary of the Treaty which ended the Third Crusade, and brought a remote era that much closer with its haunting strains'.
PP - NEP, 23/9/92.
Report on a Medieval Music workshop at St Werburgh's CE Primary School, Kingsley, Stoke-on-Trent
'Paul Bracken is an exceptionally talented musician who provided a colourful and entertaining day for pupils at St Werburgh's - not only satisfying a number of key areas of the music and history curriculum through the day, but encouraging the children to have total involvement in the workshop. This included listening to and watching a series of medieval instruments being played, singing songs from the middle ages and participating in specially designed activities and looking closely at original manuscripts. It was obvious that Paul is a trained teacher, and I have no hesitation in thoroughly recommending this workshop to any school considering such an event'.
Dear Paul,
'Just a note to thank you very much for playing at our wedding on 28th April - you Rock!! '
Love, Tim and Bethu (now Mr and Mrs Brooker)
Currently, I'm the director of Cornovian Singers, a new community choir based in Pontesbury. We perform mostly Christian music (often a capella) at community/charity events, and at churches where there is no existing choir. Cornovian Singers were established in 2023, and are developing an unusual repertoire: 'early music', gospel, and some contemporary pieces written especially for us, including anthems, psalm settings, a complete setting of the Eucharist Service, and new settings of important Latin texts of the Christian church (Agnus Dei, Sanctus/Benedictus, Ave Maria, Pater Noster etc).
Background and experience: After many years teaching in secondary schools and FE Colleges, I received my PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2001, and taught at the University of Nottingham, University of Keele, Nagoya City University (Japan) and on various Adult Education programmes in the UK. I've also been a regular contributor to the early music journal The Consort for 10 years, and have published on various 'early music' related topics, notably early vocal music 1100-1600. My PhD research and publications concern particularly the songs of the troubadours and trouveres and associated traditions such as the Old French Chansons de geste.
Although I'm primarily a pianist/composer, I'm also an experienced church organist and choirmaster, with Diocesan Lay Ministry Certificates in Worship and Music, and also in Adult Education. I've played in numerous churches, both Anglican and Catholic since 1988 - and my most recent posts have been as organist and choirmaster of St Giles, West Brigford 2015-2020 and as organist and choirmaster of St George's, Pontesbury 2020-2023. Do please get in touch if you'd like Cornovian Singers to perform at your church, or if you'd like me to work with your choir, teach or run a workshop. I'm also available to perform at weddings, conferences, festivals, museums or book launches with historical themes etc. There's a list of publications below, and also a list of previous events, with some relevant testimonials.
Publications:
'Praga Rosa Bohemiae: Music in Renaissance Prague' Consort LXXVI (2020) 136-7.
'Johannes de Lymburgia: Gaude felix Padua' Consort LXXVI (2020) 134-6.
'The Dufay Spectacle: motets and chansons of Guillaume Dufay' Consort LXXV (2019) 139-141.
'A Critical Companion to Medieval Motets' Consort LXXV (2019) 98-101.
'Le Codex de Chypre' Consort LXXIV (2018) 122-4.
'Machaut: a burning heart' Consort LXXIII (2017) 145-6.
'Ramon Llull (1232-1316): un viatge medieval' Consort LXXIII (2017) 144-5.
'The Ars Musica attributed to Magister Lambertus/Aristoteles' Consort LLXXII (2016) 110-113.
'Senza Vestimenta: the literary tradition of Trecento Song' Consort LLXXI (2015) 95-7.
'The Art of Grafted Song: citation and allusion in the age of Machaut' Consort LLXXI (2015) 93-5.
‘Minstrels and trobadors, c. 1150-c.1350: professionals or not?’ Consort LXX (2014) 1-15.
'The Ars Musica attributed to Magister Lambertus/Aristoteles' Consort LLXXII (2016) 110-113.
‘Songs in British Sources, c. 1150-c.1300’ Consort LXX (2014) 125-6.
‘Medieval English Lyrics and Carols’ Consort LXX (2014) 111-2.
‘The Vision of Music in Hildegard’s Scivias: synthesising image, text, notation and theory’ (Review) Consort LXX (2014) 108-9.
‘Neidhart: a Minnesinger and his ‘Vale of Tears’ – songs and interludes’ (Review of Naxos CD 8.572449) Consort LXX (2014) 145-6.
‘The Refrain and the Rise of the Vernacular in Medieval French Music and Poetry’ Consort LXX (2014) 109-111.
‘Tristan’s Harp: Arthurian Medieval Music’ (Review of Naxos CD 8.572784) Consort LXX (2014) 146-7.
Accompanying Trobador and Trouvère Song’, Consort LXIX (2013) 3-19.
‘Conductus: music and poetry from 13th-century France’ (Review of Hyperion CDA 67949) Consort LXIX (2013) 135- 7.
‘Le Codex de Chypre: Torino, Biblioteca Universitaria J.II.9’ (Review) Consort LXIX (2013) 114-6.
‘Performance and the Middle English Romance’ (Review) Consort LXIX (2013) 102-4.
‘Bede: a sequence of music and words’ (Review) Consort LXIX (2013) 133-4.
‘Singing Trouvère and Trobador Chansons: Vocal Style in Medieval Song’, Consort LXVIII (2012) 3-25.
‘Medieval Song in Romance Languages’ Consort LXVIII (2012) 116-18.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrims: Music for Chaucer’s Prologue’ (Review) Consort LXVIII (2012) 150-152.
‘Musical Instruments and the Performance of Medieval Song’, Consort LXVII (2011) 3-22.
‘The Renaissance Reform of Medieval Music Theory: Guido of Arezzo, Myth and History’ (Review) Consort LXVII (2011) 107-109.
‘Chansons de geste: the peripheralization of a central tradition’, in: Smith, P. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the British Society for the Study of French History (2003) Special issue of Nottingham French Studies XLIV (2005) 5-19.
‘Halt sunt li pui: towards a performance of the Song of Roland’, Nottingham Medieval Studies XLVII (2003) 73-106.
‘Quality Issues and Cultural Tourism: the changing role of reconstructions and musical performances’, Proceedings of the De Haan Tourism and Management Conference II (2003) 70-75.
‘The Myth of the Medieval Minstrel: interdisciplinary approaches to the performers of the Old French chansonnier repertory’, Viator, XXXIII (2002) 100-116.
Other publications include Music Businesses in the Greater Nottingham Area: evidence for a functional business cluster, a report commissioned by the Nottingham City Council in partnership with the University of Nottingham Business School in 2003. I've written numerous concert programme and CD liner notes, magazine articles, book and concert reviews, and contributed articles to the British Heritage Database (2000 Project CD Rom) on various subjects including ‘Music in Medieval Britain’; ‘John Dunstable’; ‘Chansons de geste’ etc.
Lecture Recital Programmes and Testimonials:
There's a list of recital programmes below, although I'm happy to create a unique, 'bespoke' programme for your event, or provide recorded soundtracks for exhibitions. The USP of these is their historic content, although I often include a humorous items in the recital programmes, juxtaposing music from various periods and genres - often twentieth-century material and new compositions related to the theme are included. The ‘War and Memory’ programme given to the British Association for Japanese Studies Conference, at the University of Nottingham included songs about war, mostly by soldiers from 12th-20th centuries. One of the most popular recitals is Non angli, sed angeli a ground-breaking recital covering a thousand years of English song originally given in Japan, subsequently presented at the centenary conference of the Royal Historical Association (University of Nottingham) in 2006 and given thereafter at various conferences and festivals.
The lecture recitals have taken me to university conferences at Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Cardiff and Kent, as well as to historic churches and cathedrals (including Canterbury and Lincoln) and even to the Yamaha Concert Hall in Nagoya, Japan! I recorded a soundtrack used for exhibitions in France - notably at the Military Museum (Les Invalides) in Paris and the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. In Japan, I gave recitals of English and French song at the Nagoya University Museum, the Yamaha Chamber Music Hall (also in Nagoya) and at the Lebhafte Halle in Kobe (2004-5).
UK recitals include: 'Pack up your Sea Stores: Songs of the Atlantic, c. 1580-1850', originally developed for the Atlantic Trade Conference, University of Nottingham, 2008; a programme of medieval English song in Canterbury Cathedral (originally for the International Chaucer and Christianity Conference); a recital of Robin Hood ballads and medieval songs (first given at the University of York); recitals of medieval song for the opening of the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds in 1998, 2000 and 2002; a recital of medieval French song for the Avignon Papacy Conference at the University of Nottingham (2002); recital for the International Society for French History at the University of Nottingham (2002) and a commissioned recital on the theme ‘War and Memory’, for the British Association for Japanese Studies (2002).
April, 2008: ‘Pack up your sea-stores: ballads and songs of the Atlantic, c. 1580-c. 1850’, Conference Recital for the International Atlantic History Conference, University of Nottingham.
December, 2007: ‘Songs of the Hundred Years War, 1337-1453’, Recital marking the opening of the Chronicles of Froissart exhibition at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds.
October, 2007: ‘Music Renewed, Music Restored’, Joint Recital with Eleanor Novotko (harpsichord) in the Music at Dingley Hall Chamber Music Series.
September, 2006: ‘Fair Stands the Wind for France’, Lecture-Recital exploring the cultural connections between England and France from 1066 to the present, given in Lincoln Cathedral Library, and supported by an exhibition of early books and manuscripts reflecting the themes in the recital.
April, 2006: Solo Recital, ‘Non angli, sed angeli: a thousand years of English song’, given for the Centenary Conference of the Royal Historical Association at Nottingham. (DVD available.)
July, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Non angli, sed angeli: a thousand years of English song’, joint recital with historical narration by Professor Michael Jones, given as part of the Nottinghamshire Festival of the Beck.
April, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Golden Ages: English and French Song’, Lebhaft Halle (Yamaguchi Recital Hall) Kobe, Japan
March, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Golden Ages: English and French Song’, Yamaha Recital Hall, Fushimi (Nagoya), Japan.
February, 2005: Solo Recital, ‘Mistral’s European Tour’, Yakuzen-APA Gallery Concert Series, Nagoya, Japan.
December, 2004: Solo Recital, ‘Non angli, sed angeli: a thousand years of English song’, given as part of the NUMCo. Series, at Nagoya University Museum, Japan.
July, 2003: ‘Chaucer’s Music’, Recital given in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, for the International Chaucer and Christianity Conference.
July, 2003: ‘Medieval Songs and Robin Hood Ballads’, Recital for the International Robin Hood Conference at the University of York.
April, 2003: ‘Outremer: chansons de croisade et de la mer’, Recital of Medieval and Modern French Song for the International Society for the Study of French History.
July, 2002: ‘Outremer: Songs of Medieval France, the Crusades and the Sea’, Lecture-recital for the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds.
April, 2002: ‘War and Memory’, Recital for the British Association for Japanese Studies Conference, at the University of Nottingham.
May, 2000: ‘Outremer: Songs of Medieval France, the Crusades and the Sea’, Emerging Artists Recital at Boston ‘Stump’ (St. Botolph’s) Church.
July, 1998: ‘A Knightly Serenade: soldiers’ songs’, Lecture-recital at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds.
Testimonials:
Dear Paul,
I should like to thank you very much for entertaining us at our annual Conference Dinner at the University of Nottingham. On behalf of the BAJS Council, and, I am sure, all the delegates at the Conference, our comment would be 'Captivating!'. The performance kept usually talkative academics enthralled (and quiet except for the explosions of applause) throughout the performance. Your humorous narrative, combined with talented and skillful rendition of both period and contemporary music were an absolute delight, and provided a welcome diversion after a busy but productive day of academic discussion.
Thanks once again,
Yours sincerely,
Professor Glenn D. Hook (President).
Dear Paul,
I wanted to say thank you very much indeed for giving us such a wonderful meeting at Norwell. It’s not what we usually do, but everyone enjoyed it enormously. It was an ideal combination of historical information and music which it was a pleasure to listen to. I'm pasting in a comment I had in an email from someone who was there last night.
'Thoroughly enjoyed last night's Music in the 1920's. What a talented and knowledgeable musician. Excellent!'
It sums up what we all felt. People are already saying when can he come again. We’re looking into it! There are so many things we could ask you to do.
Thank you again for a brilliant evening,
Dr Elizabeth Jones.
Dear Paul,
I'm writing on behalf if my colleagues to thank you most sincerely for the excellent performance you gave at the University on September 11th at the CAROM fund raising event. As an evening's entertainment, your chosen theme of entente cordiale proved to be inspired, all were delighted with the range of English and French music you performed. When you said the evening would range from 'troubadour to Aznavour', you clearly weren't joking! Also, your suggestion of turning the venue into a 'French Bistro' for the night proved to be exactly right for this informal but black tie evening: all our guests were able to really relax and enjoy your music. No wonder we substantially overachieved our fundraising target! Thank you on behalf of a grateful and delighted audience.
Ivor Perry, MA, BPhil, MBA (Senior Lecturer, De Montfort University).
Dear Paul,
This is a letter to thank you for the excellent lecture-recital (One Thousand Years of English Song) given at the Nagoya University Museum on December 20th. It was a most impressive concert - never to be forgotten, well-designed, historically interesting and musically thought-provoking. Thank you very much, once again. I look forward to your next concert at the Lebhafte Halle in March.
best wishes, Professor Mamoru Adachi (Museum Director).
After dinner, Paul Bracken of the University of Nottingham entertained us with his delightful versions of classic Robin Hood ballads and other medieval music - including 'Robin Hood and his meiny' (an excerpt from the Gest) and as well as other ballads including 'Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford', and 'Robin and the Friars'. For an encore, he sang a funny composition about Charles de Gaulle! I hope that Paul will release a CD of his Robin Hood ballads to stand alongside Bob Frank's own marvelous version of the Gest.
A. Wright, Bold Outlaw website.
Dear Paul,
I'm writing to thank you very much indeed for the superb concert you gave in Norwell last week as part of the Nottinghamshire Festival of the Beck. One Thousand Years of English Song in music and words was indeed a challenge. We were so impressed by the accomplishment with which you moved through the centuries, and many people spoke of their enjoyment of the combination of music and narration.
I enclose your fee, and thank you once again for giving us such a memorable evening.
Dr. E M Jones (Norwell PCC).
Reviews and Comments:
Review (abridged) from Peter Palmer in the Nottingham Evening Post, 23 September, 1992 - 'A Trip to the Past'
'Even the English Civil War begins to seem a mite parochial compared to the Crusades waged in the Middle ages by well-meaning Christians. The dust has long since settled, but the music remains - it was performed with great enthusiasm and no little science in Paul Bracken's one-man troubadour show for Rushcliffe Festival last night. The history added an extra dimension to the music - he touched on subjects including economics (what medieval travelers did in the days before Eurocheques) weaponry (the crossbow sounds especially nasty) and sacred relics. Paul also introduced the audience at All Hallows Church to the Knights Templar and to medieval legends such as the tale of the Saracen's Head. His musical means were equally assorted - one moment he was singing to a harp accompaniment, the next playing the Glastonbury pipe. Modern technology allowed him to simulate a hurdy gurdy, the outlandish drums known as nakers, and to sing a duet with his own voice. The medieval songs included a poignant farewell to a crusader and a mystical hymn to the Holy Land, with sources including the troubadours of southern France, Walter von der Vogelweide and a French song by Richard Lionheart. The recital marked the 800th anniversary of the Treaty which ended the Third Crusade, and brought a remote era that much closer with its haunting strains'.
PP - NEP, 23/9/92.
Report on a Medieval Music workshop at St Werburgh's CE Primary School, Kingsley, Stoke-on-Trent
'Paul Bracken is an exceptionally talented musician who provided a colourful and entertaining day for pupils at St Werburgh's - not only satisfying a number of key areas of the music and history curriculum through the day, but encouraging the children to have total involvement in the workshop. This included listening to and watching a series of medieval instruments being played, singing songs from the middle ages and participating in specially designed activities and looking closely at original manuscripts. It was obvious that Paul is a trained teacher, and I have no hesitation in thoroughly recommending this workshop to any school considering such an event'.
Dear Paul,
'Just a note to thank you very much for playing at our wedding on 28th April - you Rock!! '
Love, Tim and Bethu (now Mr and Mrs Brooker)