Music from Home and Abroad

Many of the most important sources of English viol music also contain pieces by composers from continental Europe, some of whom visited England, but also many more who were known here only by their motets, chansons and madrigals.

These pieces were often transcribed in English manuscripts without their original texts, and so make ideal repertory for the consort of viols.

This programme explores the wealth of continental music known in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, rubbing shoulders with pieces by native composers.