summer 2016 the trombonist
The English Cornett & Sacbutt Ensemble by Adrian France
ECSE was formed in 1993 by Tom Lees and myself among others (including the much-missed cornettist and founder member, Adrian Tribe) whilst we were all studying at UK conservatoires. After early guidance from a range of tutors and conductors we started to build a reputation in our own right and ECSE became part of the London early music scene at an inspiring time in the period instrument revival. Since those pioneering days we have taken part in countless exciting projects, including ensemble recitals and collaborations with vocal groups and ensembles of all shapes and sizes. ECSE has also been very fortunate to tour worldwide, and in 2018 will celebrate our 25th anniversary. ECSE’s philosophy has always been to expand the knowledge and accessibility of our wonderful instruments and their repertoire. As a specialist group 12
we follow developments in the field of historical performance practice closely, and aim to play in as informed a manner as possible. The instruments and mouthpieces we play are handmade replicas of surviving original instruments. There are several leading makers working today who offer a range of historical sackbut models (alto, tenor and bass) and ECSE’s sackbuts have all been made at the workshops of either Ewald Meinl or Egger Blechblasinstrumetenbau. I personally play a bass sackbut by Ewald Meinl (after Oller) based on an instrument in Stockholm dating from 1639. We often get asked why we chose to specialise in early music. For me, my journey began 25 years ago when I was approached to do my first sackbut concert of Monteverdi’s l’Orfeo. This was a truly eye-opening experience of performing on period instruments
and led me to commence lessons with Sue Addison at the RAM. Her expert guidance and playing with fellow students at the RAM and other colleges led to the formation of ECSE. For Emily White it was much the same: “At the RAM Sue Addison put on really inspiring projects with voices, strings and trombones. It was such great music.” Tom Lees meanwhile first played the sackbut as a student in Manchester: “At the RNCM Peter Bassano gave a class on historical trombones and taught us a whole new approach to playing and phrasing with the voice. After that, I went to the RCM and became the first ever full-time student of the sackbut there. I met contemporaries dotted around other colleges who were interested in early music and we formed the group, learning from one another as we went along!”