“Here lyes HENRY PURCELL, Esqr. who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded. Died 21 of November in the 37th year of his age, A.D. 1695” (inscription on Henry Purcell’s memorial tablet, Westminster Abbey)

A Little Consort Chamber Music of 17th Century England
11am – Thursday February 21, 2013
Alix Goolden Performance Hall

Marc Destrubé leads a small ensemble in intimate music by Henry Purcell and his contemporaries Matthew Locke, John Blow, Nicola Matteis and William Lawes.

Henry Purcell                      Sonata in 4 parts No.9 in F Major, Z.810
William Lawes                     Fantasia-Suite No. 8 in D Major
Matthew Locke                   Suite No.3 in C Major, from The Broken Consort, Part 1
Henry Purcell                      Sonata in 3 parts No.9 in C Minor – Z798
Nicolo Matteis                     Suite in g minor from Ayres for the Violin, Book II
Henry Purcell                       Sonata in 3 part No.3 in D Minor – Z792
Thomas Baltzar                   A Prelude for the Violin in G Major
Henry Purcell                       Sonata in 4 parts No.10 in D Major, Z.811

Marc Destrubé, Arthur Neele – violins
Natalie Mackie – viola da gamba
Valerie Weeks – harpsichord and organ

“I heard that stupendious Violin Signor Nicholao (with other rare Musitians) whom certainly never mortal man Exceeded on that instrument, he had a stroak so sweete, & made it speake like the Voice of a man; & when he pleased, like a Consort of severall Instruments: he did wonders upon a Note: was an excellent Composer also (…) nothing approach’d the Violin in Nicholas hand: he seem’d to be spiritato’d & plaied such ravishing things on a ground as astonishd us all.” (the diarist John Evelyn, 1620-1706, o his return home from a private music meeting in London 19 November 1674)

Purcell’s Fantasy: 3 and 4 part Fantazias, and a few Songs
8pm – Thursday February 21, 2013
Alix Goolden Performance Hall
Pre concert interview hosted by Jo-Ann Roberts, All Points West, CBC Radio One

Henry Purcell:

Fantazia on One Note
3 Fantazias in 4 parts
Curtain tune from ‘Timon of Athens
3 Fantazias in 4 parts
How blest are shepherds (from ‘King Arthur’)

3 parts on a ground
3 Fantazias in 3 parts
Not all my torments
Cupid, the slyest rogue alive
3 Fantazias in 4 parts
Thy Hand, Belinda (from Dido & Aeneas)

Nancy Argenta – soprano
Marc Destrubé, Arthur Neele – violin
Paul Luchkow – viola and violin
Natalie Mackie – viola da gamba
Valerie Weeks – harpsichord

Acclaimed soprano Nancy Argenta joins an ensemble of three violins and bass for a program of songs, along with some of Purcell’s extraordinary Fantasias and Sonatas in 3 and 4 parts. The Festival audience will treasure “her broad palette of tone colors, superb technical skill, and sensitive interpretations based on a keen textual understanding.”

Storms, Birthdays and other Pleasures
Odes and Incidental Music by Henry Purcell and Matthew Locke
8pm – Friday February 22, 2013
Alix Goolden Performance Hall
Pre concert interview hosted by Jo-Ann Roberts, All Points West, CBC Radio One

The Pacific Baroque Orchestra presents a programme of dramatic music for the theatre by Purcell and Matthew Locke and will then be joined by an ensemble of rising stars from the Victoria Conservatory of Music Advanced Vocal Studies program who will sing two of Purcell’s ravishing Odes.

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)        
Welcome to all the pleasures, Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, 22 November, 1683, Z.339

Matthew Locke (1621?-1677)
The Instrumental Musick used in ‘The Tempest’ (1667), for strings and basso continuo

interval

Henry Purcell             
Incidental music from Abdelazer (or, The Moor’s Revenge), Z.570 (1695)

Henry Purcell
Sound the trumpet, beat the drum – Welcome Ode for James II, Z.335 (1687)

Victoria Conservatory of Music ‘Young Professionals’
Pacific Baroque Orchestra
Marc Destrubé – director
Nancy Argenta – vocal director

For Kings, Queens & Gods; Anthems and Theatre Music by Henry Purcell
8pm – Saturday February 23, 2013
Alix Goolden Performance Hall
Pre concert interview hosted by Jo-Ann Roberts, All Points West, CBC Radio One

Four of Purcell’s divinely beautiful anthems, sung by the combined voices of the award-winning Victoria Children’s Choir and the St. Christopher’s Singers, interspersed with some of Purcell’s finest instrumental music and music for the stage, performed by the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.

Suite from The Fairy Queen
Anthem: “I was glad when they said unto me”
Suite from Dido & Aeneas
Anthem: “My Heart is inditing”

Anthem: “O sing unto the Lord”
Suite from King Arthur
Anthem “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem”

Victoria Children’s Choir
St. Christopher’s Singers
Pacific Baroque Orchestra
Marc Destrubé – director
Madeleine Humer – vocal director

Choral Evensong: Music from the Chapel Royal
4:30pm – Sunday, February 24
Christ Church Cathedral

Purcell began his musical career as a boy chorister, the beginning of a long association with the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey. He spent much of his short life in the service of the Chapel Royal, writing sacred music which reflected his mastery of word-setting and contemporary compositional techniques for blending instruments and voices. Up until the death of King Charles II, Purcell composed a wealth of sacred works, rich in style and scale.

Music includes
Henry Purcell “Thou knowest, Lord”
Responses by John Reading
Henry Purcell “Hear my prayer”
Henry Purcell “Evening Service in G”
Henry Purcell “Rejoice in the Lord always”
Henry Purcell “An Evening Hymn”

“The Pacific Baroque Festival is really a remarkable institution. There are lots of reasons to value it, but for me the most valuable features are the innovative programming and the opportunity for local audiences to hear works that otherwise they would simply never hear”

(James Young, Music in Victoria)