Fantazias 2025

The golden age of English consort music
Works by H. Purcell, J. Jenkins, W. Byrd, M. Locke and others.
Ensemble L'Acheron
François Joubert-Caillet - treble viol & conductor
Aude-Marie Piloz - tenor viol
Julie Dessaint - bass viol
Sarah van Oudenhove - bass viol
Although he was only 36 years old, Henry Purcell was already recognised as the greatest English composer during his lifetime, as Orpheus Britannicus. In the late 17th century, the early Baroque master achieved a convincing synthesis of English musical traditions with the latest influences from France and Italy. In no other country in Europe has viol playing been cultivated as intensively as in England since the Renaissance. In court circles, music was played on viols of various sizes, i.e. in consort, as well as in aristocratic circles and in bourgeois families. In Purcell's time, the heyday of consort playing was actually already over, but the English master consciously sought to join the great tradition and composed fantasias for viol ensemble in which he combined the ornate counterpoint of Renaissance music with the expressive harmony so typical of his personal style and with modern Baroque expressive contrasts. The French ensemble L'Acheron places Purcell's fantasies at the centre of its concert and also interprets works by other important English composers. The wealth of English music for this instrumentation is almost inexhaustible; it is skilfully and densely woven, noble and of enchanting beauty.