Sunday 22 July 2012 8:00 pm
Golden Age
Music by William Byrd, Anthony Holborne, Cipriano de Rore, Innocenzio Alberti, Giulio Caccini, Giacomo de Gorzanis, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, Richard Christopher, Tye Nicholson and Alfonso Ferrabosco
Alex Potter, contratenor
David Munderloh, tenor
Furio Zanasi, baritone
Daniele Carnovich, bass
Hespèrion XXI
Jordi Savall, conductor
Jordi Savall is accompanied by a viol consort, an organ, a lute and percussion instruments as he embarks on a journey through time to the “Golden Age” of English music. Like so many ages before and after, it was a time of great bloodshed. The Tudors and the Stuarts were waging a bloody family feud and Henry VIII let nothing get in the way of securing the throne for his bloodline. Despite his bloodlust, however, he was an ardent admirer of gentle music, as was his daughter Elisabeth, the Virgin Queen. With her died the last of the Tudors and the Stuarts were free to ascend to the throne and the Anglican Church was safe. England’s Golden Age serves not only as a muse for countless films, but was also the inspiration for wonderfully beautiful music pieces commissioned by both families and their supporters.
