Oxford Festival of the Arts EARLY MUSIC DAY in collaboration with Continuo Foundation

Celebrating the life and times of Oxford-born Orlando Gibbons, the Linarol Consort of Viols are joined by countertenor William Purefoy in an exploration of the music of one of the finest and most important English composers.

Gibbons’s life spanned the tumultuous political and religious changes that defined the end of Elizabeth I’s long reign and the first decades of the Stuart dynasty. He enjoyed royal patronage at the courts of James I and Charles, Prince of Wales, as a member the Chapel Royal from 1605 and, at the end of his life, as the organist of Westminster Abbey.

Few other composers have produced work of such a consistently high standard, ranging from deeply pious sacred music to virtuoso keyboard pieces and dramatic madrigals. This new programme by the Linarol Consort will explore a range of his works, alongside those of his contemporaries, John Bull, William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes.

William Purefoy needs no introduction on the national or international scene, gracing theatre, chapels and cathedrals everywhere with his exceptionally limpid, yet ‘magnificent’ voice.

‘… a strong, rich and agile counter-tenor. He is a delight to hear. The timbre of his voice is alluring; full of expressive, smoky tones as well as nimble grace-notes and impressive flourishes.’ – BRITISH THEATRE

The Linarol Consort was founded to explore the unique sound of the earliest surviving viol, a Venetian tenor viol made by Francesco Linarol around 1550. Their commission copies from luthier Richard Jones allow the consort to recreate the intimate sound world of the Renaissance.