TAKE A voyage from Ireland to Cyprus, through waters alive with mermaids, sirens, sailors, and romance, as part of the 14th Galway Early Music Festival from Friday May 15 to Sunday 17.
The festival, along with its new website, will be launched today at 1pm in Sheridan’s On The Docks. The theme for this year is Islands and the Waters Between and performers include Andrew Lawrence-King, The Harp Consort, Ensemble Unicorn, and Malcolm Proud.
The Harp Consort, led by harp virtuoso Andrew Lawrence-King, will perform a show entitled The Boatemen: Songs of the 17th century Seas on the harp, guitar, cornetto, percussion, and voice. Mr King will also give a solo concert of historical harp entitled The Lament of Tristan which explores the music surrounding the legends of Tristan and Iseult, a story which started in Cornwall and Brittany.
There will be a Cypriot flavour to The Ensemble Unicorn’s show, The Isle of Aphrodite: Love Songs from the Court of King Janus in Nicosia. This unusual programme is based on a single manuscript written between 1413 and 1426 - the songs and melodies of which are not to be found anywhere else.
The festival will also mark the anniversaries of Handel and Purcell when Irish harpsichordist Malcolm Proud will pay tribute to them in Music from the Sceptred Isle on his 1638 Ruckers harpsichord in the Nuns Island Theatre. The festival will also host workshops with Andrew Lawrence-King and Michael Posch.
Estonia’s young ambassadors for early music, The Kiili Youth Early Music Group, will also be playing. Aged from 10 to 18, they will perform Renaissance dance music in the Galway City Museum. There will also be a traditional children's play in The King’s Head. This year it is the 13th century Aucassin & Nicolette, which exists in a unique manuscript with musical notation, and tells a tale that makes fun of chivalry, war, and romantic stories.
After each concert the festival club in the House Hotel will be open to all who want to join the performers for a drink and chat.
Tickets to all events will be available at each venue before the performance, in advance from Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop from Tuesday April 28, and at www.galwayearlymusic.com
