Recorder Courses at Cadhay House
Friday 20th - Tuesday 24th November 2026 - Advanced Course
Tuesday 24th - Friday 27th November 2026 - Intermediate Course
Cadhay House, Ottery St Mary, Devon EX11 1QT
This is an exciting new venture for 2026 - a brace of courses at different levels, held at the beautiful Tudor manor of Cadhay House in Devon. These events are being hosted by Josée and Paul Beeson, who ran popular recorder courses for many years at Victoria House in Lyme Regis.
Below you’ll find information about the two events, both of which can accommodate a maximum of twelve players. Course fees include all tuition, accommodation, food and drink.
For these events I will be looking after the musical content, while Josée will be taking care of all the administration. She should therefore be your first point of contact for anything regarding bookings or accommodation.
If you would like to book or require further information please complete the form at the bottom of the page and your request will be sent direct to Josée, who will get back to you shortly.
About the courses
The week features two separate courses as follows:
Friday 20th - Tuesday 24th November - Advanced Course
Over the course of four days we’ll explore a variety of advanced repertoire as a large ensemble, along with some sessions where we’ll split into smaller groups to play one-to-a-part. Our repertoire will include music from the Renaissance to the present day. Alongside this we’ll explore the more demanding Contrapuncti from J.S. Bach’s final masterpiece, The Art of Fugue. In this seminal work Bach created fourteen fugues and four canons around a single theme, using an astonishing variety of techniques, resulting in music with tremendous variation in mood and energy. One session each day will be devoted to The Art of Fugue, with a mix of different musical styles in the other sessions to complement this musical masterpiece.
Players must be able to play C and F fingering on all instruments and be confident and fluent sight readers. Some of our repertoire will require great and contrabass recorders, so please bring these if you have them.
Course fee £650
Tuesday 24th - Friday 27th November - Intermediate Course
During this shorter course, aimed at intermediate level players, we’ll work on a selection of repertoire from all periods, with John Hawkes’ charming September Music as our feature work, which we’ll study each day. All course members must be able to sight read comfortably on all recorders down to bass, and larger basses are very welcome. If we have sufficient great and contrabasses we’ll explore the mellowness of eight foot music in some of the sessions.
Course fee £550
Both courses are open to a maximum of twelve players. All music will be provided for both courses, but you will need to bring a music stand and a music stand light if you have one.
Our course timetable
The first day begins as follows for each course:
Advanced course - arrive from 4pm (not before, please) for tea and biscuits, followed by our first playing session at 5pm and dinner at 6.30pm.
Intermediate course - arrive from 3.30pm (not before, please) for tea and biscuits, followed by our first playing session at 4.30pm and dinner at 6.15pm.
Subsequent days will follow this pattern:
8.30 - 9.15am Breakfast
9.30 - 11am Session 1
11am Coffee and biscuits
11.30am - 1pm Session 2
1.15pm Lunch
2 - 4pm Free time to relax, walk in fabulous grounds or explore the local area
4pm Tea and cake
4.30 - 6pm Session 3
6.15pm Dinner
7.45 - 9pm Session 4
9.15pm….. Relax, chat and drink!
The final day of both courses starts with one last playing session, followed by farewells and departure at 11am.
About our venue
Cadhay house is a wonderful Tudor house with a long and colourful history – the perfect venue for music making from across the ages. To learn more about Cadhay House and see more of our accommodation please click here.
Our accommodation at Cadhay will be in the main Manor House, with three more bedrooms in the Coach House. There are twelve comfortable and welcoming bedrooms, all with their own bathroom (some en-suite, some immediately adjacent to the room because the manor is a listed building). All meals and drinks are included in the course fee, and the delicious food will be cooked on site for us by Paul.
Our base for music making will be the Granary, a converted barn which sits just beside the main house. We’ll also have the option to split into smaller groups for some sessions, using other rooms within the manor house.
To learn more about Cadhay House and see more of our accommodation please click here.
Are you interested in joining me at Cadhay?
If you like the sound of one of the courses, please complete the form below and press submit. Your message will be sent direct to Josée and she’ll get in touch shortly with further information and details of how to book. Alternatively you can contact her directly by emailing recorders@beeson.me.
To secure a place on either course requires a £150 non-refundable deposit, but Josée will explain how to pay this if you decide to go ahead and book.