The SFEMS concert series resumes the weekend of January 10–12 with an appearance by Canada’s premier viol consort, Les Voix Humaines (Mélisande Corriveau, Margaret Little, Felix Deak, Marie-Laurence Primeau, and Susie Napper, violas da gamba) with the renowned Nigel North, lute.
Their SFEMS concert will be an exploration of one Elizabethan England’s most iconic works, the great Pavan Lachrimæ of John Dowland. The piece was for a time the undisputed hit song throughout Europe, transcribed and arranged by various composers for different instruments. Dowland himself created a series of intricate works based on his famous tune, and made them the title works of his 1604 collection, Lachrimæ, or seaven Teares figured in seaven passionate Pavans […] set forth for the Lute, Viols, or Violons, in five parts. These will form the basis of the January program, along with a few galliards and other, lighter pieces for contrast.
Dowland’s Lachrimae has become canon in the annals of consort music! “Unfit guests in these joyful times,” these seven tears of extreme beauty are cried out by five viols and lute, Dowland’s instrument. This performance is significantly different from most in that the music is ornamented in a style appropriate to the period and in defiance of a certain modern Puritanism that demands total adherence to the written page. The embellishment adds expressive elegance and musical freedom that we hope enhances the audience’s “joy and gladness”!