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The Alehouse Sessions

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The exotic musical sound-world of 17th-century London is brought vividly to life by one of the world's most dynamic and virtuosic performing groups - Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene - plus a cameo appearance by celebrated soprano Mary Bevan. In what is by no means your typical classical music concert, guests will be able to move in and out of the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer to sip on a cold drink and experience the different layers to the evening. There was the percussive backbone of Fredrik Bock on charango and the dancing of Steven Player, the equally rhythmic core of Buhre and Guthrie on their backing strings, the lively bassing of Johannes Lundberg, the rustic vivacity of viol(in)ist Milos Valent, and the harmonium of Hans Knut Sveen. The result is a show like no other, which has won awards and rave reviews from sell-out audiences throughout Europe and the US.

Part two is The Alehouse Sessions, where the action moves to the ‘tavern’ (a role played this evening by the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer). The programme features a lively mix of Handel, Purcell and Rebel plus explorations of a much more adventurous repertoire, including moments of improvisation for which Bjarte and his ensemble have become so renowned. I want this band to resemble the mentality of a pop group; from my little black book, an extensive collection of songs and dance music – four hours of music – I only announce to the musicians half an hour before we go on stage which ones we are about to perform. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s. Charismatic violinist and director Bjarte Eike and principal members of Barokksolistene, renowned for their Alehouse Sessions, make their LHF debut in this unique collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music.

There’s a wonderfully egalitarian quality to music-making that weaves its way from court to dockyard to tavern without pause. On Sunday 23rd April, BBC Four will broadcast the premiere of the film of Barokksolistene's signature project " The Alehouse Sessions". Discovering Playford’s collection made me want to explore further books on English drinking establishments.

Along with a variety of classical stringed instruments, their own arrangements delight us in a joyful mix of vocals, percussion, harmonium, guitar, charango and storytelling. The Boys, otherwise known as Barokksolistene, provide the entertainment, playing music by Purcell and Playford, as well as sea shanties and folk songs – all from memory. I must admit that the prospect of a musical recreation of a long boozy session in a seventeenth-century tavern had me on high cringe-alert, but I'm so very glad I gave this a spin - the result somehow manages to feel authentic and contemporary at the same time (and had one of my most curmudgeonly colleagues dancing in his seat when he thought I wasn't looking).Beauty meets melancholy as rich hybrids of folk and classical bang heads with drinking songs, elegies, sea-shanties and bawdy ballads. In this exclusive video clip to The Strad, Norwegian violinist and the Barokksolistene perform Wallom Green from The Alehouse Sessions. They also brought great humor to their presentation, interrupting their opening number, for instance, to play out a drunken brawl in slow motion. The energy flying from his bow was an inspiration, and spoke to the credence of his seamless integration of geographies. One moment you’ll be swept away by Henry Purcell overtures, and the next bobbing along to sea shanties, all aiming to take guests back to this unsettled period of history.

This was immediately followed by a version of Purcell's “Lead Me” that was even more resolutely alive than the album version. Indeed, Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike's fascinating project doesn't so much transport us back to the past as reposition the past in the here and now, when its lessons are more poignant than ever. These sessions have already been hailed as ‘irresistible’ [The Times], ‘superb’ [The Scotsman] and ‘fabulously unrestrained’ [The Guardian], and they have diverted away from the traditional concert model by ‘creating the effect of a late night jamming session’ [BBC Music Magazine]. The Alehouse Sessions', curated and devised by Bjarte Eike, is an evolving insight into the music of the English 17th Century tavern. In addition to their formal concerts of Baroque repertoire, Eike and his colleagues have, since 2007, developed another strand of performances.Everyone in the Barokksolistene is expected to sing, dance, move, play multiple instruments and generally have fun. Above all I just knew that if we were going to play this kind of English music, we had to take it back to where it was performed.

Through the medium of these well-loved tunes, a story of the period is interwoven into the music making; creating a unique environment between audience and performer. Eike and Barokksolistene bring the camaraderie of the period, the artistry and the connection between musicians and the audience to life in this production, filmed on location at Battersea Arts Centre and The George Inn, Southwark. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing. Here is music that asserts itself as a commodity only of the heart, fermented with just the right amount of personal expression it until it goes down smoothly like a pint ripe for the palate.It gives audiences a window into this tumultuous period through Purcell overtures, English sea shanties, and Scandinavian folk songs thrown in for good measure. Using their own arrangement of the tunes, these ‘Alehouse Boys’ combine this unique format with humour, an unrivalled virtuosity and flare for improvisation. Part one, Purcell’s Playhouse, imagines the backroom of a bar where a makeshift theatre has sprung up to mark the end of Cromwell’s reign – and his puritanical ban on playhouses. This is a window into Cromwell’s tumultuous lock-down England where, under a cloak of moral guardianship, the Puritans have closed all playhouses and forced trained musicians to seek refuge in the tavern. A smattering of Purcell, dances from Playford’s Dancing Master, shanties, reels and ballads succumb to a nine-piece ensemble drawing on Baroque, jazz and folk styles for a no holds barred hooley of riotous improvisatory give and take…The result is more gastropub than spit-and-sawdust hostelry, but ‘cheers’ all the same!

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