Thanks to Kirsten for reminding OnTheWight readers about this upcoming concert. Ed
Fancy a summer’s evening of music from the Baroque and before, played on instruments of those time periods?
Baroque and Renaissance musicians Richard Hall, Esha Neogy and Kirsten Xanthippe are giving a summer solstice concert on Saturday, 21 June 2014, 7.30 pm at Newport Minster.
“Sumer Is Icumen In” features music by Handel, Bach, Boismortier, Byrd, Dowland, Purcell and a few others, played on the treble and bass viols, harpsichord, organ and treble recorder.
The instruments
The viola da gamba – or “viol of the leg” – differs in many ways to its cello cousin. Each viol has six strings or seven strings that are made of animal gut, and its fingerboard has frets on it.
The instruments are made in very different sizes, but all are held tightly by the player’s legs and are bowed underhanded with fingers placed directly on the horsehair of the bow. The result is a lovely, deep but very pointed sound with a slight nasal quality.
The viol was popular in England during the Renaissance and Baroque periods with Handel, Purcell, Gibbons and Byrd composing for the instrument prolifically, but it eventually developed into a favourite Baroque instrument of the French aristocracy. Some of Bach’s famous and familiar cello pieces were originally written for the viola da gamba.
The musicians
Originally from Hawaii, Esha Neogy is a viola da gamba player, event organiser, editor, and mediator. She is a member of Ensemble Tramontana, which won the Trinity Laban Early Music Prize in 2011, and has also performed with Chelys, Musicke in the Ayre, Echoing Air, Europa and many other ensembles. Esha holds a BA in Music from the University of Hawaii. In the UK, she studies viol with Alison Crum and is the first candidate for the new MA in Music Education and Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
An Isle of Wight Music Service alumnus, Richard Hall is a freelance organist, pianist and harpsichordist based in London, and he currently holds the position of Director of Music at Christ Church, West Wimbledon. Richard studied organ at the Royal Academy of Music and graduated with a BMus with first-class honours from King’s College London where he was Organ Scholar, performing for services, concerts, BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and commercial recordings.
Whilst Kirsten Xanthippe has a career in strategy, policy, politics and communications, she also has a BA in Music. Over 20 years or so, she has conducted, played viol, flute and recorder and sung in numerous early music concerts, oratorios, and operas, including the title roles in Handel’s Solomon, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, as well as Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Herodias in Strauss’ Salome.
Find out more
For the musically curious, the musicians will be more than pleased to show you their instruments and answer any questions during the interval and after the performance.
The concert takes place on Saturday, 21 June 2014, 7.30pm at Newport Minster.
Retiring collection is in aid of the Newport Minster restoration project.
