Fretwork

Performers

Iestyn Davies, counter-tenor
Asako Morikawa, Sam Stadlen, Emily Ashton, Jo Levine, and Richard Boothby, viols

Program

William Byrd, Fantasia à 5, “Two parts in one” (ante 1611); Ye Sacred Muses (c. 1585); In Nomine à 5 (c. 1570)
Orlando Gibbons, Fantasia of four parts (c. 1620)
Johann Christoph Bach, Lamento (ante 1700)
Carlo Gesualdo, Beltà poi che t’assenti (1611); Dolcissima mia vita (1611); Sparge la morte (1596)
George Frideric Handel, Già l’ebro mio ciglio (1733); Passacaille (c. 1720); Piangerò (1724)
Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Sky Above the Roof (1908); Silent Noon (1903)
Michael Nyman, If; Why (1995)

The extraordinary viola da gamba consort Fretwork makes their Gardner Museum debut with a program that spans from Byrd and Gibbons in Elizabethan England to present-day works by Michael Nyman. They are joined by the splendid counter-tenor Iestyn Davies, who will sing, among other works, “Ye Sacred Muses,” Byrd’s moving lament on the death of his mentor Thomas Tallis, which ends with his cri de coeur, “Tallis is dead, and music dies.”

Advance tickets are no longer available for this concert. Standby tickets may be issued on a space-available basis the day of the concert, and can only be purchased in person on the day of the show. Availability is not guaranteed. 

If you'd like to join the wait list for this concert, please call the Box Office at 617 278 5156.