Continuo Connect — Concert // The Vauxhall Band: The Eighteenth-Century London Flautist

Laura Piras - Flute, Anna Brigham - Violin, Carina Drury - Cello, David Wright - Harpsichord

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens was one of many such public spaces in London in the 17th-19th centuries. The original Vauxhall Band performed at Vauxhall Gardens in an ‘orchestra’ building, elevated above crowds of thousands of listeners, who would experience the music among the trees, illuminated by lanterns and moonlight, accompanied by the heady scent of flowers and shrubs.

The Vauxhall Band perform in the amphitheatre at Crossrail Place Roof Garden, an amazing glass-covered space at Canary Wharf, which is home to many exotic plants and flowers.

A small pocket of creative activity by specialist instrument-makers such as the Stanesby, Potter and Urquhart families, led to a vast output of finely-crafted, unique flutes in London.

The Vauxhall Band perform music for the flute, violin, cello and harpsichord inspired by the stories of the people who made the flutes, performed on them, and by composers associated with Vauxhall Gardens and London, including Thomas Arne, Handel, William Boyce, Lewis Granom, Carl Weiss and James Oswald.

Thomas Arne - Trio Sonata in G major Op.3 No.2
Lewis Granom - Flute Sonata in G major Op.1 No.1
Carl Weiss - Trio Sonata in No.5 in B flat major
James Oswald - Airs for the Seasons - ‘The Stock Gilliflower’
Handel (arr. John Walsh) Acis & Galatea - ‘Hush ye pretty warbling Quire’
William Boyce - Trio Sonata No.10 in E minor
Handel - Trio Sonata in B minor Op.2 No.1

Admission free. Reserve your seats in the amphitheatre via the booking link.

This concert is generously supported by grants from Continuo Foundation and Angel Early Music.