University of York Baroque Ensemble

Event details

In the early eighteenth century, London was under the spell of Italian music thanks to sonatas and concerti grossi by Arcangelo Corelli. A feverish demand by music lovers and enthusiastic learners led many Italian virtuosos to move to the city, where they found fertile ground for their activities. The most prominent figure was Francesco Geminiani, a violinist-composer whose treatises later became indispensable to understanding performance practice of the period. University Baroque Ensemble presents the concerti grossi of the master and his pupil, Avison from Newcastle, as well as a concerto with winds by Handel, one of the most influential immigrants to the city.

Baroque+ Day: London Calling!

Staff, students and alumni of the University of York celebrate the cultural mecca that was eighteenth-century London in their annual mini-festival. York alumna Dr Masumi Yamamoto, Continuo Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, leads the London Obbligato Collective in a performance of rarely heard works for harpsichord, violin and cello by Giardini, JC Bach and Abel. York lecturer and rising star of the Early Music scene, Mary-Jannet Leith explores the craze for Scottish music and the expression of Scottish musical identity in London. Finally, University Baroque Ensemble depicts the spell cast over the London public by Italian music, in a programme of concerti grossi by Arcangelo Corelli, his student Avison and that most influential of immigrant musicians, Handel.