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The Alehouse Sessions

The Alehouse Sessions

RRP: £13.71
Price: £6.855
£6.855 FREE Shipping

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Shakespeare refers to the poor level of catch singing in many of his plays, like in “Twelfth Night” where Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and the clown Feste are singing the catch “Hold thy peace”, where, being disturbed from sleep by their “performance”, Malvolio exclaims: For step-free access from the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road off Belvedere Road to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating (excluding rows A to C) and wheelchair spaces in the Rear Stalls, plus Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer and the Purcell Room, please use the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance. Before classical music became real art music and the composer had all the power, artistic freedom was a lot higher for performers. Musicians were expected to demonstrate improvisational and ornamental skills throughout the medieval, renaissance and baroque periods, but the amount of improvisation and the way in which they responded to the audience would depend on the occasion. For example, there would be a certain amount of ornamentation within the Gloria sung at church, but not any adaptation based on the audience’s response. In a tavern or on the streets, the artistic freedom would naturally be a lot higher as the musicians would be free to respond and change to whatever audience might be at hand.

I see the alehouse sessions more as a creative room that I keep refurbishing, rather than a fixed project or concept. It started as a fun, clever musical idea – fitting a festival with an English theme – but has now become something more profound; it’s all about the individuals that contribute on stage, with everyone being outstanding soloists and team-players, and how we have all invested ourselves in the project. The signature of this project is the interaction on stage between the players and the audience. If it has to be put in a historical context, the project draws its inspiration from the Shakespearian theatre where there was a direct communication between stage and hall- going in-between the story that was being told and occurring events happening in the hall. This is in stark contrast to the 19th century drama with dark halls looking at the “gods” on stage. It is the latter which the classical mainstream industry has adapted fully.” The pub has since the earliest of times been the English people’s second home. The establishments can be divided into three categories: the inns, taverns and alehouses (later known as public houses). In these establishments one would meet to eat, drink, and sleep, but, especially after 1660, one would also hold political meetings, feasts, balls, concerts, gambling events, flower shows etc .. and of course, these houses were the main venues for the extreme consumption of alcohol in the 17th century¹. Samuel Pepys is also notoriously known for his fondness of alcohol. In his diaries, he’s listing all kinds of favourite drinks like ale, cider, beer, brandy, all sorts of wines and mixed drinks like posset, butter beer, hippocras etc². Then I came across a book of Playford dance tunes. The music was only faintly sketched out – just a melody with no tempo indications or harmony – which meant that musicians were expected to flesh out the harmony and adapt to whatever instruments were available. The Alehouse Sessions – curated and devised by Bjarte Eike – is an ever changing and evolving insight into the music of the English 17th Century tavern. It gives audiences a window into this tumultuous period through Purcell overtures, English sea shanties, and Scandinavian folk songs thrown in for good measure.

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So how did it all start? The initial impetus came from creating a series of informal concerts for a festival in Norway. Prior to that, I had already dabbled in folk and pop bands as a teenager and student. When I studied in Bergen, my band and I also briefly worked for Guinness when they ceremoniously opened new taps in Norwegian pubs in the early 90s.

The Alehouse Sessions – curated and devised by Bjarte Eike – is an ever changing and evolving insight into the music of the English 17th Century tavern. It gives audiences a window into this tumultuous period through Purcell overtures, English sea shanties, and raucous Scandinavian and Canadian folk songs thrown in for good measure. In 17th century England, Oliver Cromwell moved to close all the theatres and concert venues- forcing the musicians, actors, and dancers off the stages and into any number of “alternative” venues. In 1630, there were registered more than 30,000 alehouses, 2,000 inns and 400 taverns in England and Wales. These were the new homes for the artists of the day. For access to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating rows A to C and wheelchair spaces in the Front Stalls, please enter via the Artists' Entrance in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road (Level 1). By 1630 there were registered more than 30.000 alehouses, 2000 Inns and 400 taverns in England and Wales. Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open. With the outbreak of the English Civil Wars in 1642, the Puritans had the Commonwealth parliament closing all theatres. The music masters of London’s churches and courts were scattered and left to fend for themselves.

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This made it more difficult for musicians to bring their instruments 4, but the demand for entertainment at the drinking houses was high, so instead people started performing vocal music like part-songs, catches and canons. Post-restoration Using their own arrangement of the tunes, these ‘Alehouse Boys’ combine this unique format with humor, an unrivalled virtuosity and flare for improvisation. The alehouse sessions is flexible and can be presented in many different forms and settings. It can be an enlightenment project, a music-theatre, an improvised happening, a show or an educational event – I see it is an organic, living organism that never stands still.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
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