Monteverdi String Band: Hannah Ely soprano, Oliver Webber violin, Toby Carr lute.

Claudio Monteverdi, Zefiro torna; Ohimè ch’io cado
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, Prelude & Toccata Nona
Giulio Caccini, Queste lagrime amare
Gärtner, Toccata
Johann Nauwach, Amarilli mia bella passeggiata
Cipriano de Rore, Ancor che col partire
Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Deh vieni ormai
Biagio Marini, Sonata variata; Sinfonia La Orlandina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Vestiva i colli
Felice Anerio, Galliard on Vestiva i colli
Giovanni Felice Sances, O Domine Jesu
Thomas de Crequillon, Par trop souffrir
Giovanni Paladini,  Ancor che col partire
Tarquinio Merula, Canzonetta spirituale
Oliver Webber, Ciaccona on Zefiro Torna
Carlo G, Mater Ierusalem

The trio of performers from Monteverdi String Band explore the music of early sixteenth century Italy, a time that was astonishingly fruitful for the arts, and for music in particular: the emergence and refinement of Monteverdi’s seconda pratica opened up a new realm of expressive possibilities, which composers were quick to take advantage of.

This concert by the Monteverdi String Band is inspired by one of the writers who attempted to capture the new fashion for music that evoked wonder and astonishment, Emanuele Tesauro who described a sweetly ornamenting voice, twisting and turning in ‘a thousand flexible ways’. Inspired by the perennial advice for instrumentalists to model their playing on the execution of good singers, the violin takes the role of a second voice in several works, including Monteverdi’s ciaccona ‘Zefiro torna’, The emerging instrumental styles are showcased in works by Marini and Kapsberger, and the solo voice runs the gamut of expressive styles, with Merula’s heart-rending lullaby to the infant Christ, painfully cognisant of his destiny, as one of the highlights.