Ballet des Dieux: Musical Delights from Renaissance France

The Somerville Museum will conclude its twenty-sixth season of Early Music Afternoons on Sunday, April 26, 2015, with a concert of instrumental music from the courts of renaissance France, to be performed by El Dorado Ensemble (Carol Lewis, Janet Haas, Paul Johnson, Mai-Lan Broekman and Alice Mroszczyk, viols; Olav Chris Henriksen, lute and renaissance guitar). The concert, entitled “Ballet des Dieux” features fantasies, dances and preludes by Albert de Rippe, Claude le Jeune, Eustache du Caurroy, Robert Ballard, Etienne Moulinié and other royal favorites from 16th-century France, and it will take place at 3:00 pm at the Somerville Museum, Central St. at Westwood Road, Somerville, MA. Admission is $19 general admission, $14 students, seniors and Museum members. Ample street parking is available. An informal reception at the Museum will follow the concert. For further information and reservations, call (617) 666-9810 or visit www.somervillemuseum.org

During the renaissance, French royalty showed their great love for music and dance by sponsoring the best talent in Europe, from the Italian lute virtuoso Albert de Rippe (Alberto da Ripa) to contrapuntal masters Claude le Jeune and Eustache du Caurroy, as well as Pierre Guédron and Etienne Moulinié, both of whom provided fine musical works for the court ballet spectacles. “Ballet des Dieux” will also spotlight solo works for renaissance guitar by Adrian le Roy, and for lute by Robert Ballard. There will even be music for a ballet for horses, as well as pieces representing different characters, including “shepherds”, “nymphs”, “chickens”, “shadows”, “Americans”, and others. To show how this music spread outside France, the ensemble will play a lively canzona by the German composer Samuel Scheidt, which is based on a popular song by Guédron.

The members of El Dorado Ensemble are all active Boston-area musicians, frequently heard in concerts and recordings throughout the region. Carol Lewis and Olav Chris Henriksen are two of America’s leading early musicians, performing frequently in recitals individually and together, as well as with internationally acclaimed ensembles including Boston Camerata, Hespèrion XXI, Capriccio Stravagante, Waverly Consort, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

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