Fretwork Viol Consort: Six Centuries, Six Viols
This is the 3rd concert of the Oxford Chamber Music Society [https://oxfordchambermusic.org]'s 2025-2026 season. Click here [https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/oxford-chamber-music-society] for details of the full season.
For over four decades, Fretwork has stood at the forefront of the viol consort revival, acclaimed worldwide for performances of extraordinary finesse, depth and expressive power. Renowned for redefining what a viol consort can be, Fretwork combines scholarship with fearless musical imagination, bringing both early masterpieces and new music vividly to life.
Their programme Six Centuries, Six Viols is a striking celebration of the viols uniquely enduring voice. Spanning six hundred years of music, the programme traces an unbroken lineage from the golden age of Renaissance polyphony, through the richly expressive works of the Baroque, to powerful contemporary compositions written especially for the ensemble. Each piece reflects a different moment in the viols long history, revealing how its sound has continually inspired composers across radically changing musical worlds.
Performed by six of the worlds finest viol players, Six Centuries, Six Viols is both an exploration of musical time and a testament to the viol consorts timeless expressive range. By placing early music alongside living composers responses to the instrument, Fretwork creates a programme that feels at once historically illuminating and urgently contemporary an experience that is as intellectually engaging as it is sonically compelling.
Elegant, searching and deeply communicative, Six Centuries, Six Viols offers audiences a rare opportunity to hear the viol consort not as a historical curiosity, but as a living, evolving ensemble with a voice that continues to resonate across centuries.
Emilia Benjamin, Emily Ashton, Jonathan Rees, Jo Levine, Sam Stadlen, Richard Boothby
Programme
John Tavener- Sanctus from the Missa Gloria tibi trinitas
Henry Purcell - In Nomine (1680)
William Byrd - Fantasia (1611)
Gavin Bryars - In Nomine (1995)
Claude Debussy- La fille aux cheveux de lin (1910)
William Lawes - Consort set in C major in 6 parts
---- Interval ----
Alfonso Ferrabosco - Hexachord Fantasy
Edward Grieg- Heimweh Op.57 No. 6 (1893)
John Jenkins - Fantazy in 6 parts
Photos: Fretwork
For over four decades, Fretwork has stood at the forefront of the viol consort revival, acclaimed worldwide for performances of extraordinary finesse, depth and expressive power. Renowned for redefining what a viol consort can be, Fretwork combines scholarship with fearless musical imagination, bringing both early masterpieces and new music vividly to life.
Their programme Six Centuries, Six Viols is a striking celebration of the viols uniquely enduring voice. Spanning six hundred years of music, the programme traces an unbroken lineage from the golden age of Renaissance polyphony, through the richly expressive works of the Baroque, to powerful contemporary compositions written especially for the ensemble. Each piece reflects a different moment in the viols long history, revealing how its sound has continually inspired composers across radically changing musical worlds.
Performed by six of the worlds finest viol players, Six Centuries, Six Viols is both an exploration of musical time and a testament to the viol consorts timeless expressive range. By placing early music alongside living composers responses to the instrument, Fretwork creates a programme that feels at once historically illuminating and urgently contemporary an experience that is as intellectually engaging as it is sonically compelling.
Elegant, searching and deeply communicative, Six Centuries, Six Viols offers audiences a rare opportunity to hear the viol consort not as a historical curiosity, but as a living, evolving ensemble with a voice that continues to resonate across centuries.
Emilia Benjamin, Emily Ashton, Jonathan Rees, Jo Levine, Sam Stadlen, Richard Boothby
Programme
John Tavener- Sanctus from the Missa Gloria tibi trinitas
Henry Purcell - In Nomine (1680)
William Byrd - Fantasia (1611)
Gavin Bryars - In Nomine (1995)
Claude Debussy- La fille aux cheveux de lin (1910)
William Lawes - Consort set in C major in 6 parts
---- Interval ----
Alfonso Ferrabosco - Hexachord Fantasy
Edward Grieg- Heimweh Op.57 No. 6 (1893)
John Jenkins - Fantazy in 6 parts
Photos: Fretwork
Where & when
No performances found.
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