Classical and Jazz: Preview - Bach Players at St John’s Downshire Hill on July 2
Published: 30 June, 2011
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
THE excellent Bach Players have devised another exciting programme for their early music fans at their summer concert on Saturday evening at St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead.
The concert’s La Grande France theme results from new research into music composed during the reign of Charles II.
“In Restoration London, the French style dominated music at court and in the theatres,” said Nicolette Moonen, artistic director of Players.
“The latest airs and overtures by Lully were brought over the Channel each year and English composers also had the opportunity to learn the style directly from French musicians in London. In the concert, we trace the development of the Anglo-French style from Matthew Lock’s experiments in the 1660s to Henry Purcell’s King Arthur in 1691. The programme has been devised by Silas Wollston, our keyboard player, and is based on his doctoral research on music of the Restoration period in England, focussing on the violin band of Charles II.”
Soprano Rachel Elliott (pictured Above) is singing with the ensemble as she has since it started in 1997.