Programs

William Byrd: Consort Music and Songs

William Byrd’s consort music is among the most exciting works of the English Renaissance. Its biting satire comments on the society of time, yet the music also conveys deeply religious reflections on the transience of life, juxtaposing elaborate polyphonic structures with joyful, dance-like folk song variations.

Byrds Birds - Twittering Echoes

Concert of Birds, Frans Snyders [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Anna Trauffer, musical and scenic concept

The Swiss composer Anna Trauffer has created an evening for the B-Five recorder quintet that combines music from the English Renaissance master with her own compositions. The elements of breathing and air bring these newly composed pieces to life in the same way as English Renaissance music, forging a bridge between these two worlds. Anna Trauffer’s music is at times fluid and warm, then sad, sparse and fragile, before suddenly pulling all these threads together, lifting the mood rhythmically almost like pop music.

Musica, zur Lust und Freud'

Von Atelier / Werkstatt von Lucas Cranach der Ältere - The Bridgeman Art Library, Objekt 308462, Gemeinfrei, Link

Songs and dances from the age of reformation

B-Five stellt aus Manuskripten und Musikdrucken ein Konzert zusammen, das die Klänge der Reformation lebendig werden lässt und Einblicke in die Gefühlswelt einer Zeit im Umbruch eröffnet: elegante Tänze, nachdenkliche Melancholie, Glaubenseifer und Liebessehnsucht - der Soundtrack eines bewegten Jahrhunderts.

From Venice with Love

Canaletto - The Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge, Venice - Google Art Project. Gemeinfrei, Link

Musical migration between London and Italy

B-Five traces the path of this artistic migration over the course of the Renaissance. Polyphonic sound structures and dynamic folk dance melodies are a testament to the beauty that blossomed when these different musical traditions came together.

In Search of Dowland

Consort Music of John Dowland and Carl Rütti

The program celebrates the English Renaissance master while simultaneously presenting an unexpected new view of his music: numerous possibilities in register and freely interpreted ornamentation based on historical sources give Dowland’s music not only a deep sense of melancholy but also an exuberant zest and daring virtuosity. The pavans and galliards are embedded in a work by Swiss composer Carl Rütti (*1949). In his energetic Dowland-Suite the moving life story of John Dowland musically unfolds.

Money Powers Music

Music for the Fugger family

Charming dances and elaborate polyphony, melancholy songs and virtuosic instrumental settings - the Fuggers collected everything there was to be heard during the 16th century by Alamire, Senfl, Appenzeller, Neusidler, Desprez a.o..