Celebrating 30 years of music

Fretwork will be performing at St Michael and All Angels’ Church on Saturday, June 11.

The event marks 30 years of the band making music.

Described as ‘the world’s leading viol consort’ and ‘the finest viol consort on the planet’, Fretwork’s repertoire spans the very first music printed (Venice in 1501) to music commissioned by the group this year.

Members’ recordings of arrangements of Bach have won particular praise, but have also recorded music by Grieg, Debussy, Shostakovitch, Warlock and Britten.

This extraordinary breadth of music has taken them all over the world in the 30 years since their debut, and their recordings of the classic English viol repertory – Purcell, Gibbons, Lawes and Byrd – have become the benchmark by which others are judged.

Made up of Emily Ashton, Richard Boothby, David Hatcher, Reiko Ichise, Asako Morikawa and Sam Stadlen, Fretwork is bringing its concert The World Encompassed to Alwinton as part of its 2016 UK summer tour before dates across Europe and the USA.

The concert’s programme was inspired by Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe from 1577-80 in the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth.

Fretwork has commissioned British composer Orlando Gough to use this to create a journey in sound that charts Drake’s remarkable feat.

Inspired by records from the time and by the exotic sounds that Drake and his men heard, Gough has woven music from the 16th century seamlessly into a through-composed piece of music lasting 70 minutes.

The concert takes place at 7.30pm and will be preceded by a free workshop from 2pm to 3.30pm. Tickets are priced from £12 - £14, available at www.alwintonconcerts.org, under-16s free.