News & Links

1a. THE LOST CODEX OF AVALON – ORDERS AVAILABLE!

1b. THE LOST CODEX OF AVALON VOL.2 – PRE-ORDERS!

A unique medieval and fantasy collaboration between composer and performer David Yardley and some of Australia’s finest musicians from the Sydney Chamber Choir, The Song Company and Pastance.  Inspired by his lifelong immersion in authentic medieval sound, Yardley’s compositions conjure lost music of the mythic isle of Avalon, from Arthurian legend. This first of two albums journeys through Yardley’s settings of long-forgotten medieval sacred and secular texts, whose original music has not survived, as well as his musical settings of fantasy poetry and contemporary Australian works.

A video with the stunning sound of The Song Company, rehearsing before our recording, is available here, along with some more info about the album. 

 Click here to order the new albums. You can receive the music from the album on CD and/or in digital format, as well as album booklet. 

2. “Transcendent Medieval-Inspired Music For Modern Times” – classikON review 

Overjoyed with this review of the album of my compositions, The Lost Codex of Avalon, following its launch in Sydney on December 18, 2021. Read the review here: https://www.classikon.com/cd-review-yardleys-transcendent-medieval-music-for-modern-times/

EVENTS

1. Video featuring the stunning sound of The Song Company, rehearsing to record The Lost Codex of Avalon

Some footage of our pre-recording rehearsal with The Song Company, Australia’s leading professional vocal ensemble. I also speak about the album project. Add some “pure beauty” to your day – you can watch the video here. And you can click here to order The Lost Codex of Avalon.

2. Tickets: The Song Company, performing my composition live – 20 November 2022

Leading Australian professional vocal ensemble The Song Company will perform one of my compositions alongside Tallis’ immortal “Spem in Alium” and a wonderful work by Sydney-based composer Brooke Shelley. Sunday, 20 November 2022, 3 pm, Lower Town Hall as part of their “Underground” series of concerts. Australia’s finest voices performing my work – hope you can make it and I’m hoping to be there myself! 

3. Ongoing – Christopher Preston Thompson – Online concert with Midtown Concerts and Gotham Early Music Scene

I was delighted that wonderful New York City-based performer Christopher Preston Thompson included my latest composition in a beautiful online concert. It’s a forgotten medieval plague song, revived for our times with my new music for voice and harp. The concert itself was a brilliant program of medieval troubadour, trouvere and Latin songs, and you can access it here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=852349345278362

I want to say a few more words about this online concert of Christopher’s, because it really brought some peace and joy in these dark times, in the unique way that medieval music can.

Christopher’s performances in this concert brought out the fantastic contrasts and colours of the medieval repertory, by turns contemplative, melancholy, joyful, spiritual. All the things this music is meant to be. This is no mean feat – a singer, with an instrument, singing in old languages – to draw forth the dramatic colours of the music for a wide variety of modern audiences to delight in. And beyond this, I have to praise Christopher’s approach to this concert so much. There’s this charming, engaging sweetness that augments all of his obvious knowledge. It just moves the whole performance away from any pretentiousness and into a space of simpler joy, despite his obvious mastery of the genre and the material. This concert is a gift for people living through strange and uncertain times. Really, really well done, and thank you.

My own performance is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rth9-6p0mSs. And I’m delighted to say this one is on my upcoming album, The Lost Codex of Avalon. In this year of our own modern plague, this piece of surviving medieval plague history is too poignant to leave out.