Rare Pleasures

Strange Musicke: Brooke Green and Ruby Brallier, viols

What did Shakespeare mean with strange musicke in The Tempest? Can we imagine the rare pleasures of Europe’s select few at this time, experiencing intimate music so ravishing it silenced all conversation?

We invite you to enjoy a glass of wine or alternative beverage as you experience the strange and the rare with music for 2 viols (violas da gamba).

King Charles I was a skilled viol player. Seemingly oblivious to civil unrest and the danger about to befall him, he was keen to explore the latest musical ideas by playing with his finest court musicians such as John Coprario and Richard Mico. A favourite genre was the Fantasia where a musical idea may roam freely within elegant polyphonic confines.

Fantasia-like elaborations abound in a recently discovered anonymous 17th century ground and its ambiguous title suggests it could be performed on bass and treble viol. Continuing to explore the hidden potential of the treble viol, our program includes arrangements by Brooke Green of J.S.Bach’s Sonata for Violin and Continuo BWV 1021 and his mystical Canon in Augmentation and Contrary Motion from The Art of Fugue.

With continually shifting allegiances and power plays, envy is an oft-reported emotion in early baroque institutions. For the Franciscan monk, Bartolomeo Montalbano, it is intriguing to speculate why he titled his Sonata Quarto Geloso. Jealousy has become a sub-theme of our program and inspired a world premiere by Brooke Green: “Jealousy has me“.

Program

Anon.(17th c.) My Lady Carey’s Dompe
John Coprario – Fantasias a2
Richard Mico – Fantasias a2
Anon.(17th c.) – 3rd for a base and treble to a ground
Bartolomeo Montalbano – Sonata Quarto Geloso (Jealousy)
J.S.Bach – Sonata for Violin and Continuo BWV 1021
J.S.Bach – Canon in Augmentation and Contrary Motion from The Art of Fugue
Brooke Green – Jealousy has me said emerald to ruby (world premiere)