Early Music Day

Oxford Festival of the Arts EARLY MUSIC DAY, in collaboration with Continuo Foundation

Join us at Grove Auditorium,  Magdalen College, Oxford for Early Music Day,  for an afternoon of captivating events that will transport you through centuries of sound.

1pm | Linarol Consort & William Purefoy: Gibbons 400
Celebrating the life and times of Oxford-born Orlando Gibbons, the Linarol Consort of Viols are joined by countertenor William Purefoy in an exploration of the music of one of the finest and most important English composers.

Programme

William Purefoy – countertenor

Linarol Consort of Viols
David Hatcher – viola da gamba
Claire Horacek – viola da gamba
Timothy Lin – viola da gamba

Tickets available here: Linarol Consort and William Purefoy: Gibbons 400.

3pm | Bellot Ensemble: Cupid’s Ground Bass
Known for their energetic and passionate performances, Bellot Ensemble present their Cupid’s Ground Bass debut album programme, which explores the extremities of love, through the groundbreaking works of 17th-century Italy, highlighting both the vocal and instrumental innovations of the time. The concert will include not only some of the most beautiful arias from this period sung by the incredibly talented singers, soprano Lucine Musaelian and tenor Kieran White, but also the group’s own instrumental diminutions and arrangements, often over the wonderful ‘ground bass’ themes, popular at this time.

Programme

Giovanni Kapsberger Toccata prima
Francesco Cavalli ‘Misero Apollo’ (Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne)
Sinfonia and ‘Ombra mai fu’ (Il Xerse)
Tarquinio Merula Chiaccona
Claudio Monteverdi ‘Oblivion soave’ (L’incoronazione di Poppea)
Barbara Strozzi ‘Amor dormiglione’
Cavalli Canzon/Sonata à 3
‘Delizie, contenti’ and ‘Se dardo pungente’ (Il Giasone)
Marco Uccellini Aria quinta sopra la Bergamasca à 3
Strozzi ‘Che si può fare’
Monteverdi Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti

Tickets available here: Bellot Ensemble: Cupid’s Ground Bass

5pm | Sir Nicholas Kenyon CBE :The Pied Pipers of Early Music

Over the last hundred years and more, the revival of early music and historical performance styles has brought about a sea-change in our listening habits, and a radical expansion of the repertory. Sir Nicholas Kenyon explores some of the highlights of this revolution and the richness it has brought to our musical lives, including the significant contributions from Oxford musicians.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon is a former Controller of BBC Radio 3, Director of the BBC Proms and the Barbican Centre. He edited the journal Early Music and the influential volume Authenticity and Early Music. He is now an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College Oxford and a Distinguished Affiliate Scholar of Pembroke College Cambridge, researching the history of the early music revival as a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow.

Tickets available here: The Pied Pipers of Early Music —a century of revolution in musical taste

Package price for all 3 Early Music Day concerts is £36.
Note: Package available only if purchased in one transaction.
Please call Tickets Oxford box office 01865 305 305 for assistance.