The new season of Early Music Afternoons begins on Sunday, November 17, 2024, with a concert featuring instrumental music from 18th-century Norway performed by Duo Maresienne (Carol Lewis, violas da gamba; Olav Chris Henriksen, Baroque guitar and cittern). The duo will play folk songs, fairytale tunes and dances from the mountains, plus art music from the cities of Norway, including sonatas and suites by Schenck, Storm, Winding and others. There is very special Baroque music to be found in Norway – enough original Norwegian sources of secular music have survived that we can begin to get a clear picture of what musical life must have been like, both for private and festive occasions. There are whole manuscripts of music for viola da gamba, as well as for Baroque guitar and cittern, and while the collections include sonatas by well-known foreign composers like Schenck, and lyra-viol dances by Playford, there are many other pieces that give us a glimpse into the world of Nordic folk music, complete with history, legends and fairy tales. Duo Maresienne will perform selections from the music and the tales, from the cities through the forests and up into the mountains, with plenty of stories told on dark Norwegian winter nights.
