On March 5th we will be performing our Shirley Partbooks programme at St Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol, followed by an evensong with the choir of St Mary Redcliffe, where we will accompany them in Orlando Gibbons’ Second Service. The concert will be at 3.30pm followed by Evensong at 6.30pm. Further details and ticketing information to follow soon!
Newe Vialles at the International Festival of Viols
We are delighted to announce that we are giving a concert in the International Festival of Viols at the Royal College of Music on the 14th of November. The festival is now in its 10th year, and brings together viol players from all over the world for a series of concerts and masterclasses. We are very excited to be part of a line-up that also includes concerts by Fretwork and masterclasses by Richard Boothby and Reiko Ichise. We will be performing a version of our Shirley Partbooks programme, featuring 4- and 5- part consorts by Ferrabosco, Lupo, Coprario and Lawes, alongside instrumental madrigals by Monteverdi, Marenzio and Pallavicino.
The next day, on the 15th of November, three of our Viallers will be among the 12 viol players who are giving the UK premiere of the newly-discovered 12 Fantasies for Viol by Georg Philip Telemann, also as part of the festival. This is a unique and historical event and well worth hearing!
Renaissance Reimagined with the New Cambridge Singers
We are excited to have received the music for Everybloom, a new composition by Giles Swayne for mixed choir and viols based on texts from Joyce’s Ulysses, which we are premiering with the New Cambridge Singers in April 2017 as part of their programme Renaissance Reimagined. Also on the programme is Tallis’ spectacular 40-part motet Spem in Alium, with the Newe Vialles forming one of the five choirs alongside groups of voices and cornets and sackbuts. This should be a spectacular event and the programme will be performed in Cambridge and London.
Newe Vialles in Bristol
In Spring 2017 we will travel to Bristol for a concert and evensong with the choir of St Mary Redcliffe, featuring some wonderful 17th century works for voices and viols – more details coming soon!
Music at St Michael’s
On the 15th May, The Newe Vialles are making a London appearance at St Michael’s, Battersea. This is a chance to hear the extended version of our programme based on the Shirley Partbooks, which will form the basis of our first CD recording. Copied by William Lawes in the 1620s, the Shirley Partbooks feature some of the most beautiful works from the ‘golden age’ of English consort music, including music for viols in four, five and six parts by Alfonso Ferrabosco II, John Coprario, John Bull, Thomas Lupo and William Lawes himself.
Links to further information:
Wandsworth Arts Fringe
Tickets
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St Michael’s Church
Richard Campbell Celebration
On Thursday 25th February at 7.30 pm, at the Guildhall School for Music and Drama, the Newe Vialles will be playing as part of a celebration of the life of the viol player Richard Campbell, who taught three of our core members. Works will include a new commission for viol consort by his son Jocelyn Campbell.
Collaboration with Anna Dennis
Newe Vialles are very happy to announce a collaboration with the critically acclaimed singer Anna Dennis, exploring some of the most fantastical consort songs of the late 16th century. Many of these will be unfamiliar to modern audiences, but have huge theatrical appeal. Anna is developing a great reputation as an interpreter of 17th century English song, and we are very excited to welcome her for this project. You can read more about Anna here.
Future plans
We are working on our concert schedule for the next 12 months, which will include recitals in Bristol, London, and a project with the New Cambridge Singers, directed by Graham Walker and featuring a new commission by Giles Swayne. Please check our performances page as more details go online!
Getting started
Rehearsals are underway for our debut project – recording a selection of the music from the Shirley Partbooks, copied for the Shirley family of Staunton Harrold in Leicestershire by William Lawes. Particularly exciting are the Italian madgrials – despite being an important part of the repertoire for early 17th century viol players, these have hardly ever been recorded on viols alone. Finding ways of bringing texted music to life without text – and thinking about appropriate ornamentation – is a great challenge, and also has its effect on how we approach the consort repertoire found in these manuscripts.
