Pear Tree and Partridge
Laura Hairgrove Randall and Mary Vanhoozer are Renaissance women who love to make music, engage in rich conversation, and share the gift of beauty in the everyday through a variety of creative outlets. Their shared passion have led them to Pear Tree and Partridge:
More than simply a music duo, their musical and creative collaboration also represent a way of living.
Pear Tree and Partridge is committed to crafting live music with skill, dedication, and creativity with the aim to create excellent music for the joy, enrichment, and good of their local communities. In addition to concerts, Pear Tree and Partridge also shares blogs, poetry, recipes, and pictures on their website, creating a virtual space for artistic reflection and personal rejuvenation.
Pear Tree and Partridge
Laura Hairgrove Randall and Mary Vanhoozer are Renaissance women who love to make music, engage in rich conversation, and share the gift of beauty in the everyday through a variety of creative outlets. Their shared passion have led them to Pear Tree and Partridge:
More than simply a music duo, their musical and creative collaboration also represent a way of living.
Pear Tree and Partridge is committed to crafting live music with skill, dedication, and creativity with the aim to create excellent music for the joy, enrichment, and good of their local communities. In addition to concerts, Pear Tree and Partridge also shares blogs, poetry, recipes, and pictures on their website, creating a virtual space for artistic reflection and personal rejuvenation.
Pear Tree and Partridge
Laura Hairgrove Randall and Mary Vanhoozer are Renaissance women who love to make music, engage in rich conversation, and share the gift of beauty in the everyday through a variety of creative outlets. Their shared passion have led them to Pear Tree and Partridge:
More than simply a music duo, their musical and creative collaboration also represent a way of living.
Pear Tree and Partridge is committed to crafting live music with skill, dedication, and creativity with the aim to create excellent music for the joy, enrichment, and good of their local communities. In addition to concerts, Pear Tree and Partridge also shares blogs, poetry, recipes, and pictures on their website, creating a virtual space for artistic reflection and personal rejuvenation.
Multi-instrumentalist and melodist
Angelus ad Virginem*
Mary Vanhoozer
Playford's Wheel
A practical guide to Playford and English country dances for hurdy gurdy enthusiasts
COMING SOON
Sample page
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Over the last two years I have been playing and collecting English country dance tunes, taking special note of the melodies whose range and idiomatic writing seem particularly well suited for the hurdy gurdy. The fruit of this project is Playford's Wheel, an anthology and guide to playing 70 English country dance tunes for hurdy gurdy enthusiasts. For each original tune, I have written second voice parts (see sample 'Black and Grey'). These second voices provide gurdy players with the opportunity to play and collaborate with other instrumentalists.
I believe the hurdy gurdy offers a unique contribution to renaissance dance music, and subsequent traditions that have sprung out of it. In light of this, Playford's Wheel marks the beginning of a longer term project: it's the first of a series of anthologies, each of which will feature a seminal collection of dance music from the 16th, 17th, or 18th centuries. These melodies will be specifically transcribed for the hurdy gurdy.
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Playford's Wheel will be released in late November (2024) through JW Pepper.