Friday 11th April
Songs of Auld Lang Syne
Lute songs from the courts of King James VI & I
Mhairi Lawson – soprano
Paula Chateauneuf – lute
7.30pm (45 minutes)
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Tickets go on sale in January 2025. Festival passes are now available.
Tickets £15, or book this concert with ‘Heart’s Haven’ at 7.30pm for £40, and save £10.
Part of a long tradition of music for voice and lute that began with medieval troubadours, 17th century basso continuo song sees improvised accompaniment on the mellow, resonant theorbo make a perfect match for the human voice.
One pioneer of the genre was court musician and composer Nicholas Lanier. Sent to Italy by Charles I to scout out paintings for the royal collection, Lanier heard a revolution in musical composition among Italian innovators, chief among them Claudio Monteverdi, where music became the servant of the text. Lanier brought his discoveries home, composing songs in this new style in English and influencing the development of Britain’s musical world.
The Scottish courtly songs in our programme are taken from Musica Britannica, Music of Scotland 1500-1700. Unlike musical works from Tudor England, Scottish repertoire of this time tended not to appear in print, though songs travelled with musicians to be published further afield. Most are anonymous, but the text of Then wilt thou goe is by Sir Robert Aytoun (1570-1638) whose poem Old Long Syne is the oldest surviving version of Robert Burns’ famous Auld Lang Syne.
Mhairi and Paula have worked on renaissance and baroque repertoire together for nearly 30 years, most recently the theatre music of Henry Purcell in worldwide and award-winning performances of King Arthur with the Gabrieli Consort and Players.
“Mhairi Lawson’s shining soprano excels.”
Gramophone
| Scottish Court | |
| In a garden so grene Remember me my deir Then wilt thou goe |
|
| English Court | |
| Nicholas Lanier | No More shall meads be blessed with flowers Mark how the blushful morn |
| Italian Influencers | |
| Claudio Monteverdi | Eri gia tutta mia |
| Barbara Strozzi | Amor, amor |
| English Restoration | |
| Henry Purcell | ‘Twas within a furlong of Edinburgh town Fairest Isle Evening Hymn |
| Scottish Enlightenment | |
| Auld Lang Syne | |
| Corn Riggs |
Mhairi Lawson
Mhairi Lawson has worked worldwide with companies such as English National Opera, New York City Opera and The Early Opera Company in works by composers from Monteverdi to Puccini. She has sung as soloist with the Halle Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Northern Sinfonia, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and period instrument ensembles Les Arts Florissants, the Academy of Ancient Music, The English Concert and the Dunedin Consort.
Her discography ranges from Haydn’s Creation (Oxford Philharmonic), Scottish Songs and Canzonettas (with Olga Tverskaya), Schubert’s Lieder (with Eugene Asti) and works by Vivaldi (La Serenissima) to traditional classical Scottish music (Concerto Caledonia). Mhairi sings on the award-winning recordings of Purcell’s King Arthur and The Fairy Queen, with the Gabrieli Consort and Players.
Recent recording work includes Handel’s Brockes Passion (Arcangelo, Alpha) also performed at London’s Wigmore Hall, the songs of Erik Chisholm (with Iain Burnside, Delphian), Philip Wilby’s An English Passion (with Belfast Cathedral Choir and Matthew Owens) and songs from Allan Ramsay’s Scottish Ballad Opera The Gentle Shepherd (Concerto Caledonia).
Paula Chateauneuf
Paula Chateauneuf’s playing has been described as ‘one of the most exciting things on the pre-classical concert circuit’.
A Fulbright Scholar to London, she established herself there as one of early music’s leading players and became the linchpin of numerous groups including the Gabrieli Consort, New London Consort, and Sinfonye. She has performed with many UK ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Concert, and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts; and abroad with the Handel and Haydn Society, De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and Le Concert des Nations. Paula’s mastery of the art of basso continuo has made her one of the most sought-after accompanists in her field, resulting in fruitful collaborations with numerous leading singers and international opera houses. She has recorded for Decca, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Linn, and Hyperion. She teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music and was a Creative Arts Fellow at the University of Birmingham. 2009 saw the establishment of her highly-acclaimed 17th-century-style improvising ensemble, The Division Lobby.