Sumer Is Icumen In - Baroque and Renaissance Music by Handel, Bach, Byrd, Dowland, Boismortier, Purcell and others

Esha Neogy, six-string treble viol and six-string bass viol
Kirsten Xanthippe, seven-string bass viol, recorder and voice
Richard Hall, harpsichord and organ
Retiring collection for the Newport Minster restoration project

Ever wanted to hear what those cello-like instruments found in Renaissance art and painted famously by Vermeer really sound like? Fancy a summer's evening of music from the Baroque and before, played on instruments of those time periods?

Baroque and Renaissance musicians Richard Hall, Esha Neogy and Kirsten Xanthippe are giving a summer solstice concert on Saturday, 21 June 2014, 7.30 pm at Newport Minster.

"Sumer Is Icumen In" features music by Handel, Bach, Boismortier, Byrd, Dowland, Purcell and a few others, played on the treble and bass viols, harpsichord, organ and treble recorder.

The viola da gamba - or "viol of the leg" - differs in many ways to its cello cousin. Each viol has six strings or seven strings which are made of animal gut, and its fingerboard has frets on it. The instruments are made in very different sizes, but all are held tightly by the player's legs and are bowed underhanded with fingers placed directly on the horsehair of the bow. The result is a lovely, deep but very pointed sound with a slight nasal quality.

The viol was very popular in England during the Renaissance and Baroque periods with Handel, Purcell, Gibbons and Byrd composing for the instrument prolifically, but it eventually developed into a favourite Baroque instrument of the French aristocracy. Some of Bach's famous and very familiar cello pieces were originally written for the viola da gamba.

Richard Hall, harpsichordist, is a professional musician originally from the Isle of Wight and was the Senior Organ Scholar at King's College London where he graduated with a First in Music.

For the musically curious, the musicians will be more than pleased to show you their instruments and answer any questions during the interval and after the performance.

Retiring collection is in aid of the Newport Minster restoration project.