Baroque music is associated with the 17th and 18th centuries and is one of the most popular styles of classical music. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel — all gems of the Baroque. But the Baroque coincided with the rise of sophisticated fiddling and storytelling among folk musicians, especially in the British Isles, and you don’t have to look too far to see strong connections between the two. Actually, you don’t need to look beyond the new album called The Alehouse Sessions, by the Norwegian baroque violinist Bjarte Eike and his baroque instrument ensemble called Barokksolistene.
This album moves seamlessly between English, Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes and folk songs — the type of thing they imagine being played in a British pub of the time — and the music of the great English Baroque composer Henry Purcell (who was known to raise his voice, and a glass, in a pub or two). That album provides a springboard for us to hear Pachelbel’s greatest hit, the Canon in D, on this edition of The Furthermore, as well as music by the Baroque Irish harper-composer Turlough O Carolan (that’s Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin to you, assuming you speak Gaelic), and contemporary works by the remarkable Irish-American group The Gloaming and the fiddlers Michael Galasso and Maarja Nuut. Oh, and a familiar tune in a surprise setting.
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Program playlist:
The English Dancing Master (edited by John Playford): Wallom Green
Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene
Johann Pachelbel: Canon in D
Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Helmut Müller-Brühl, conductor
Traditional Scottish: Johnny Faa
Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene
Henry Purcell: Hole in the Wall, from Abdelazar
Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene
John Stafford Smith: To Anachreon In Heaven
Uncredited performance from Smithsonian Institute
Henry Purcell: Curtain Tune, from Timon Of Athens
Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene
Turlough O’Carolan: Carolan’s Cup
Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene
Traditional Irish: The Pilgrim Song
The Gloaming, featuring Iarla O Lionaird
Maarja Nuut: Torupilliviis
Maarja Nuut, violin
Michael Galasso: Scene III
Michael Galasso, violin
Maarja Nuut: Labajalg
Maarja Nuut, violin
Michael Galasso: Scene IV
Michael Galasso, violin
Carl Friedrich Abel: Allegro Moderato
Roy Wheldon, viola da gamba
Roy Wheldon: Quartet After Abel, excerpt
Roy Wheldon, viola da gamba; with American Baroque
Jon Balke: O Andalusin
Amina Alaoui, vocals; Barokksolistene/Jon Balke, conductor
