Music: Brighton Early Music Festival

Now in its 11th year and bringing old music to town

Initially discussed over the veritable coffee and napkin by founders Deborah Roberts and Claire Norburn, the Brighton Early Music Festival is now an established event, in its 11th year, the second largest of its kind in the UK (after York), with over 6,000 attendees and recorded and broadcast by the likes of BBC Radio 3 every year. It is a labour of love, reliant on the goodwill of patrons, funders, friends of the festival and of course ticket buyers, year-on-year. But Clair and Deborah, both highly regarded singers in their own right, somehow make it happen, and hats off to the pair of them!
This year’s theme is loosely based on cities, musical centres and the journeys between them, as the festival continuously seeks to join the dots between musical styles and fashions from around the world.

Taking place in a variety of venues, from the intimate Latest Music Bar to the expansive and awe-inspiring St. Bartholomews Church (apparently, this church has the tallest nave in the country), and often with relatively cheap entry, it’s a fantastic opportunity to hear and see some truly unique music and performance, all acoustic based, and often featuring a variety of rare and unusual instrumentation.

For instance ‘Warsaw: The Blossoming Vine – Italian Maestri’ at the Polish Court (Fri 31 Oct, St. Bart’s) is a programme of music exploring the musical riches of the Polish royal court in the 17th century, and demonstrates how musicians from Rome and Venice exerted their influence on the musical life of Warsaw and Krakow.

Kemptown’s St. George’s Church is host to ‘Trade Roots: African & Brazilian Music Meet In A Portuguese Monastery’ (Sat 1 Nov), where ‘villancicos’ and romances found in the monastery’s archives and brought over by African slaves and freemen are brought to life by the group L’Avventura, featuring four guest singers from Portugal. St.George’s is also host to ‘Nine Days Wonder – A Trail of Two Cities’ (Fri 7 Nov), a musical and performance based celebration of Will Kemp’s (a leading actor in Shakespeare’s company) 100 mile ‘dance’ in 1600, from London to Norwich! The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments re-enact this event with raucous dance tunes and more refined music from the Elizabethan age.

And for those perhaps more newer to ‘early music’, Latest Music Bar (Sat 1 Nov) hosts an all day and free entry event, featuring short concerts by some of the best new talent around, an event inspired by the 18th century craze for taking ‘The Grand Tour’ around Europe.

For the full programme of events, visit: www.bremf.org.uk

Follow me: @latestjeff