lovely music, with style and spirit!
Director Emeritus Steven Devine
A much loved part of the early music scene since 1983, Linden Baroque works with well known early music specialists to bring audiences highly enjoyable and memorable concerts.
Director Emeritus Steven Devine
A much loved part of the early music scene since 1983, Linden Baroque works with well known early music specialists to bring audiences highly enjoyable and memorable concerts.
A wonderful concert - superb ensemble, excellent singers. (MB, email)
Beautiful - beats Venice! (SP, London SE13)
Gorgeous and delicate, excellent musicans. So impressed (NY email)
Wonderful, beautiful, sublime (MC, London)
Beautiful - beats Venice! (SP, London SE13)
Gorgeous and delicate, excellent musicans. So impressed (NY email)
Wonderful, beautiful, sublime (MC, London)
Concert feedback
Linden promotes its own concerts in and around London and is available for festivals or choirs looking for an original instrument 'historically informed' band to add style and zest to their performances of baroque music.
NEXT CONCERT:
March 7th, 7.30pm
St James's Church, Piccadilly
Bach's St John Passion
Finchley Chamber Choir
directed by David Lardi
Johnny Herford, Christus
Ruari Bowen, Evangelist
NEWS:
Our recent concert with the all women's choir, Gloriana, a joint project, raised £2,500 for the charity Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. There are a couple of excerpts from the concert conducted by Deborah Miles-Johnson: Hasse Misere, 1st and 6th movements
At the following concert (below) we presented the symbolic cheque to the charity in July
LAST CONCERT:
French Baroque music with
The New London Singers
directed by Oliver John Ruthven
Charpentier Te Deum
Rameau Hippolyte et Aricie Suite
Mondonville De profundis clamavi
Rebel Les Caracteres de la Danse
Francois Couperin In Note Placida
Louis XIV was of course well-known for his love of dancing and the famous portrait of him by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701 shows a splendid pair of unnaturally young and elegant legs for a 63 year old, ending in a pair of funky orange-heeled dancing shoes. Dance music is a central part of French baroque style and the suite from Rameau's first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie, of 1733, is full of imaginatively realised dance movements. This was a revolutionary work at odds with the stiff, formality of Lully's operas.
Jean-Fery Rebel, who studied under Lully, was a composer at the Court of Louis XIV and a member of his renowned "Vingt-quatre violons du roi." He wrote some rather audacious music and the piece we play, Les caractères de la danse, is certainly full of interesting rhythms and harmonies but its raison d'être is to catalogue the main dance forms prevalent in France in the first half of the 18th century ending with a more modern Italianate passage. It was performed in London in 1725 under the direction of a certain George Frederic Handel.
Francois Couperin became court harpsichordist to King Louis XIV. In much of his music he sought to amalgamate the best of the Italian style - lively, rhythmic with bright harmonies - with the French - more spacious, rhetorical, rhythmically flexible and richly harmonic style.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote a great deal of religious music and also much for the stage in 17th century Paris, though not public opera which was held under a monopoly by Lully but mostly incidental music for plays or small-scale peas for private performance. The opening of his Te Deum is, of course, famous as the signature tune of the European Broadcasting Union and we play this in homage to our European friends at this difficult time.
Louis XV unfortunately succeeded Louis XIV at the age of 5, becoming King, proper, at the advanced age of 13. His reign oversaw the Enlightenment - perhaps French culture's finest period - but also was almost continual warfare and economic failure and not too long after Louis died came the French Revolution. He was however well-loved as a man and in turn loved many women including of course Madam de Pompadour. She was a great patron of the arts and made sure music was performed regularly at Versaille to please the king, much of it by Rameau. She also helped out Jean-Joseph Mondonville, a violinist in Le Concert Spirituel and composer, who rose to become the Master of the Music of the (Royal) Chapel and eventually director of Le Concert Spirituel. He composed popular operas, oratorios (a new form imported from England) and grands motets.
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