English Song

 

Musicians
Elin Harries (soprano)
Carina Drury (baroque cello)

Description

The practice of performing baroque songs with voice and bass alone has largely been abandoned, but was, in the 17 & 18C, considered a viable alternative to keyboard or viol consort accompaniment, creating a totally different sound world as the two lines, voice and bass, weave together. Following on from their performance at Handel House last year, ARCATA la mode return with more songs from the 1698 publication, The a la mode Musician, and Robert Jones’ 2nd book of songs. Some songs accompanied solely by the cello taking the continuo bass line ‘the pleyne way’, others with complex interweaving lines, composed specifically for voice and bass.