'Bringers of Dreams': Brighton Early Music Festival 2026 Preview

Hannah Ely (soprano)
Olwen Foulkes (recorders)
Oliver Webber (violin)
Kristiina Watt (lute, theorbo, baroque guitar)
Harry Buckoke (viola da gamba)
The Royal Sackbut Collective:
Buchen Zhao (alto & tenor sackbut)
Jonathan Stevens (alto & tenor sackbut)
Jess Anderson (tenor sackbut)
Andrew Cowie (tenor sackbut)
José Teixeira (tenor sackbut)
Jonny Lovatt (bass sackbut)
 
7.30pm, Saturday 9 May 2026
Champs Hill, Pulborough
 

Oliver Webber, Olwen Foulkes,
Harry Buckoke & Kristiina Watt
© Cathy Boyes

Brighton Early Music Festival, now in its 24^th year, will run from 2-25 October 2026, with its usual selection of pre-festival workshops and community and family events from 19 September onwards. This year’s theme is ‘Bringers of Dreams’, and last Saturday, BREMF held a Festival Preview event at the picturesque setting of Champs Hill. 
 
The idea was to present a flavour of some of the music that will be performed, but presented here by a small group of performers, including co-Artistic Directors Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes. They were joined by festival regulars Oliver Webber (violin), Kristiina Watt (lute, theorbo & baroque guitar) and Harry Buckoke (viola da gamba). And representing the BREMF Emerging Artists scheme (formerly known as BREMF Live!) was The Royal Sackbut Collective, who will be performing in the opening concert of this year’s festival. 
 
Hannah and Olwen gave an overview of some of the key themes of the festival, and talked with passion about the great work that BREMF does, particularly with the Emerging Artists, in schools across Brighton and Hove, and also touched on One Song, a project working with settled refugees in Brighton, who will be sharing songs from their homes via a video installation in an exhibition during the festival.
 

Olwen Foulkes & Hannah Ely
BREMF Co-Artistic Directors
© Cathy Boyes

They then introduced the evening’s programme, which was made up of principally three sections. They began with a selection of excerpts from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, which will be performed at the end of the festival by the London Handel Players and solo singers from the Emerging Artists programme (currently being recruited). Webber & Foulkes gave us a bright opening Hornpipe, then Ely delivered ‘See my many colour’d fields’ with a beautifully mellow, pure tone, with gentle ornamentation from Webber on the violin. Several dance movements were given variety with Foulkes switching recorders and sensitive accompaniment provided by Watt and Buckoke. But the highlight of this brief selection had to be The Plaint, ‘O let me weep’, from the final Masque. Here, Ely’s pure tone was enriched with moments of passion (‘He’s gone’) and lamenting sighs. They certainly whetted the appetite for a full rendition of this wonderful semi-opera in October. 
 
Next came a sequence of Dowland songs, as we are in year of the 400^th anniversary of his death, and thus Dowland will feature highly in this year’s festival, with a day-long celebration of his music on Saturday 17 October. Here, four members of the Royal Sackbut Collective stepped forward to accompany Hannah Ely in ‘O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness’, and despite the Champs Hill hall’s relatively dry acoustic, they balanced the sackbuts with subtlety, blending with Ely’s sensitive singing remarkably well. Ely was then joined by Watt on the lute and for ‘Time stands still’, sung with pose, delicate ornamentation and precise diction, with graceful support from the lute. Foulkes on recorder and Buckoke on the viola da gamba joined for ‘Now, O now I needs must part’, with Foulkes’ playful and virtuosic treble recorder lightly dancing along, and they concluded the sent with ‘Sorrow, stay, lend true repentant tears’, with more plaintive lamenting from Ely, following Dowland’s word-painting lines down (‘down I fall’) and up again (‘arise’), finishing with beautiful control on the long final note. Again, a short taste, but a reminder of the surprising variety of colours and moods in Dowland’s songs.
 

BREMF 2026 Festival Preview - full ensemble
© Nick Boston

After the interval, the remainder of the concert shifted focus to Florence as a true ‘City of Dreams’. The opening concert will trace 200 years of Florentine art and invention, and will feature the Monteverdi String Band (led by Oliver Webber), the BREMF Consort of Voices, and The Royal Sackbut Collective. Tonight’s music took us from ‘En vray amoure’, attributed to Henry VIII in the early 16^th century through to music by Gabrieli, Caccini and Uccellini, taking us up to the mid 17^th century. The Royal Sackbut Collective contrasted lively rhythms and virtuosic, rapid motion in the Henry VIII piece with sombre, dark tones and dynamic interest in Verdelot’s ‘Se l’ardor foss’ equale’. Oliver Webber then introduced the ‘lira da braccio’, an instrument designed specifically for accompanying the voice, often seen in renaissance art. Performing on the instrument for the first time, the blend of drone, ornamentation and harmony blended perfectly with Ely’s voice in Corteccia’s ‘O begli anni de l’oro’. In Marenzio’s ‘Belle ne fe' natura’, Ely, Foulkes and Webber weaved their three high lines in a perfect blend, then the four instrumentalists danced through Marini’s Sonata with fresh virtuosic energy. ‘Mater Hierusalem’, from an early 17^th century manuscript (‘Carlo G.’) followed, full of decorative divisions and ornamentation from Webber and Ely, the complexity increasing and matched, one after the other. The Royal Sackbut Collective returned for the glorious ‘O Jesu Christe’ by Giovanni Gabrieli, the players warming their blend nicely from a quiet opening to a full sound, with gently rocking rhythms in the triplet sections. Caccini’s ‘Chi nel fior di giovinezza’ followed from Ely and the instrumentalists, the voice now playful, even skittish, with virtuosic melismas, and they then brought the evening to a close with an instrumental Aria Sopra la Bergamasca by Uccellini, launched by a ground bass from Buckoke on viola da gamba, and building to joyful virtuosity from Foulkes and Webber, their rapid flourishes running from one to the other. 
 
This whole final section was a wonderful reminder of the joys of the Florentine repertoire, and brought back memories of BREMF’s Florentine Intermedi (2012) and Four Weddings and Funeral (2010) with Musica Secreta. So lots of great music to look forward to in this year’s festival, presented in imaginative and innovative ways and continuing the BREMF tradition of exploring connections and challenging preconceptions of early music. The full programme will be launching soon, but for now, sign up on their mailing list here for more information.

(Pre-order The Royal Sackbut Collective's debut album here).

BREMF Consort of Voices - Palestrina 500: Music from Italy and the Sistine Chapel

 

Join BREMF Consort of Voices to celebrate the 500 anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina in 1525, whose graceful polyphony was written to be performed in the Sistine chapel and whose influence quickly spread throughout Europe. They will also be performing motets by some of his contemporaries including Allegri, Victoria, Gabrieli, and Marenzio.

BREMF Consort of Voices
James Elias director

This concert is part of the Europe-wide celebration of Early Music Day 2025.

Tickets here.

BREMF Consort of Voices, performing at BREMF 2024
© Robert Piwko

The Madrigal Reimagined - effortless virtuosity and informative expertise from the Monteverdi String Band and friends

Oliver Webber, Director of the Monteverdi String Band has been a frequent visitor to Brighton Early Music Festival, in particular bringing the band to several early opera productions at the festival. Both soprano Hannah Ely and lutenist Toby Carr are also familiar to us in Brighton. Ely is artistic director of the Fieri Consort, and regularly sings with Musica Secreta and Collegium Vocale Gent, amongst others. Toby Carr performs with many early music ensembles, including Ensemble Augelletti and Ceruleo, as well as performing as a soloist and continuo player, recently recording an award winning album with Helen Charlston. Webber’s last recording focussed on virtuosic violin ornamentation in the early Italian Baroque (read my review here), and for his latest disc, he and the band are joined by Ely and Carr for an exploration of the madrigal, and how it was reinvented and transformed from a purely vocal setting into works for solo voice with accompaniment, and into instrumental works. Alongside this is the part that virtuosic ornamentation, both vocal and instrumental, had to play in pushing the boundaries of the form. 

The Madrigal Reimagined is a fascinating programme of vocal, solo instrumental and ensemble pieces from the late sixteenth century, ending with a demonstration of how the madrigal form and style fed into early opera, in a brief selection of highlights from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Ely delivers the Prologue and two key arias (Ahi caso acerbo and Ma io ch’in questa lingua) with clarity and drama, capturing the intensity of the emotion in this chamber rendition. The string Sinfonias are suitably plaintive, emphasised in the rich yet mournful lower registers, yet Vanne Orfeo, with its bright, falling soprano lines, and the cheerful, spirited dance bring the disc to a nonetheless cheerful conclusion.

 

But before that, we have the delights of Rore, Caccini, Cavaliere and Malvezzi, amongst others. Cipriano de Rore’s (c.1515-1565) Anchor che col partire is heard first in a lute transcription, with Toby Carr bringing out its doleful delicacy, and managing to make the melodic lines sing. Then Carr is joined by Ely, who brings an aching beauty to the vocal line, with effortless diminutions (ornamentation consisting of breaking the melodic line into groups of shorter, often rapid notes), written by Giovanni Battista Bovicelli (1545-1618). Vergine bella and Ben qui si mostra il ciel by Rore have the solo line given over to the violin, with Webber providing the diminutions (along with diminutions by Orazio Bassani (bef.1570-1619) for the former). Webber’s bird-like violin, athletic yet effortless, skitters and meanders over the delicately plucked lute. The final piece by Rore included here, Hor che’l ciel et la terra, also has diminutions by Webber, but this time Ely has the solo line, brightly delivered over rich string textures, with ornamentation in all parts. 

 

There is a sequence of pieces from the famous 1589 Florentine Intermedii, lavish wedding celebrations for Ferdinando de’ Medici and Christine of Lorraine, with their famed extreme special effects. Cristofano Malvezzi’s (1547-1549) Sinfonia a 6, takes us into La Regione dei Demoni (the realm of demons) with its rich, complex string textures, before Giulio Caccini (c.1650-1618) takes us up into the heavens with Io che dal ciel, Ely delivering startlingly shimmering ornamentation here. This segment ends with O che nuovo miracolo by Emilio de’ Cavaliere (c.1550-1602), which dances along with instrumental fizz, the rapid ornamentation adding to the sense of celebration.

 

There’s more from Monteverdi, with extracts from his Il ballo dell'ingrate, the stately Entrata and swinging Ballo followed by Ah dolente partita, with Ely’s highly expressive falling soprano lines echoed in the violin, here played by Theresa Caudle. Ely’s bell-like high notes cry out, then there’s a swap into her lower vocal register, with Caudle taking over above. Ahi, troppo è duro follows, with dramatic expression and doleful falling lines.

 

There’s a solemn Canzon by Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1554/1557-1612) from the strings which dances along nicely, the disc opens with Canzon decimottava by Claudio Merulo (1533-1604), brightly paced with clear textures, and Carr also gives us a beautifully sad Preludium from Lorenzo Tracetti (1555-1590). Cruda Amarilli appears first in a setting by Johann Nauwach (1595-1630), Ely’s pure, expressive line gently accompanied by Carr on the theorbo. Ely’s ornamentation here is especially nimble, with humming repititions and fluid runs, and it is then followed by Monteverdi’s more familiar setting, here given over to the plaintive strings. And Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) is represented here in Vestiva i colli, with ornamentation shared between the soprano and bass violin in an unusual and delightful dialogue. 

 

With expertly informative notes from Webber, this disc combines these musicians’ clearly expert research and knowledge of this repertoire with virtuosic command of the technical demands of such ornamented performance, making for a highly stimulating and impressive collection. 

Various. 2024. The Madrigal Reimagined. Hannah Ely, Toby Carr, Monteverdi String Band, Oliver Webber. Compact Disc. Resonus Classics RES10341.

 

Programme

Josquin des Prez (c.1450–1521) - Kyrie from Missa Pange lingua 

Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) - In manus tuas 

William Byrd (1539/40–1623) - Haec dies 

Robert Parsons (c.1535-1572) - Ave Maria 

Giovanni Palestrina (c.1525-1594) - Sicut cervus 

Tomás Luis de Victoria( c.1548-1611) - O quam gloriosum 

More details here.

The Contenance Angloise - BREMF Consort of Voices sings 15th century polyphony

BREMF Consort of Voices, directed by Deborah Roberts, will be performing a programme of 15th century music at St Paul's Church, West St, Brighton on Saturday 4th May at 3pm.

There will be music by John Dunstable, Walter Frye and Guillaume Dufay. There will be more Frye and Dufay in the Brighton Early Music Festival this year, in October, so this one hour concert will be the perfect taster!

Tickets are £15 (£7.50 concessions), but £5 Prom/restricted view tickets will be available on the day. Details here.

You can also listen to recordings of most of the music in a specially created Spotify playlist here. 

'To the Northern Star' - strong performances from Flauguissimo and friends of delightful chamber works for flute by 'the Father of Swedish Music', Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758)

The ensemble Flauguissimo Duo (Yu-Wei Hu (flute) and Johan Löfving (theorbo/guitar)) first came to my attention when they were BREMF Live! artists at Brighton Early Music Festival back in 2012. Since then, they have released their debut album, A Salon Opera (my review here), and Löfving also released an album of music for guitar and string quartet with the Consone Quartet (also BREMF Live! participants in 2016) (my review here). So it is great to see them back with another release, and I was fortunate to see them performing works from the recording as they completed their album launch tour, appropriately enough at a satellite event prior to this year’s Brighton Early Music Festival. Their album, ‘To the Northern Star’, consists of chamber works by Johann Helmich Roman (1694-1758), and they are joined by Magdalena Loth-Hill (violin), Henrik Persson (viola da gamba) and Emily Atkinson (soprano). I have to confess, Roman was new to me, despite being hailed as ‘The Father of Swedish Music’. He studied alongside J. S. Bach’s brother, Johann Jacob, and then spent considerable time in London, performing at the King’s Theatre in Handel’s orchestra. He returned to Stockholm to the court of Frederick I and Queen Ulrica Eleonora, and he dedicated the publication of his Twelve Sonatas for flute and basso continuo to the Queen in 1727. Flauguissimo have recorded three of those sonatas here, and they are full of delightful invention, grace and elegance. Yu-Wei Hu makes her flute sing in the aria-like movements, such as the opening Largo of No. 4, and her rippling ornamentations flow effortlessly, as in the French overture-like Larghetto at the start of No. 10. The quicker movements dance along, and Löfving switches between theorbo and guitar to provide variety of texture. Persson’s viola da gamba provides an almost hurdy-gurdy effect in the rustic Piva of No. 10 around which the flute circles, and the closing Villanella feels even more rustic, with tapping and strumming accompaniment. Hu’s flowing lines are impressively fluid, with precise articulation and rare pauses for breath. Roman favours a lilting swing for his quicker movements – moments of rapid virtuosity are relatively few and far apart, but when they come, such as in the Allegro following the Adagio in No. 8, Hu’s precision is impressive, and here matched with swift articulation from Persson in response. Alongside the Sonatas, there are two Arias here. The first, ‘Süße Zeiten eilet nicht’, comes from the Cantata in einer Taffel-Music, opens with delightful cascading flute passages over a delicately falling bass line. Atkinson’s bright clear soprano joins with gently lilting lines, gradually picking up more ornamentation to match the flute, with Loth-Hill’s beautifully blended violin joining the action. Atkinson returns for the second aria, this time in Swedish, with ‘I eder bästa vår’ from Bröllops Music, written for an aristocratic wedding. Again, Atkinson demonstrates flowing virtuosity in the vocal lines, with bright and joyful communication of the text, although the recording balance is a little heavily in favour of the voice, so that the flute doubling of the vocal line is only just audible. But this aria is also striking for its violin part, with an extensive solo cadenza-like passage, full of Baroque string crossing and sequences, with more than a hint of Corelli, following the lyrical opening. Loth-Hill is impressive here, particularly when rising into the high registers, keeping a bright and clear tone throughout. They end their recording with their own arrangement of the Trio Sonata No. 3 in E minor, originally written for two violins and continuo, here performed with flute and violin on the top lines. The opening, sad Largo sounds like a Bach chorale, and Hu & Loth-Hill beautifully blend their instruments here. The Vivace that follows brings virtuosity and spirit for both instruments, with additional energy perhaps missing from the more stylish Sonatas. Persson matches their virtuosity with nimble syncopation here. More strumming from Löfving and swinging ornamented lines bring the Trio Sonata and their disc to a lively finish. It’s great to hear this delightful music receiving such strong and dedicated performances from Flauguissimo and friends, and hopefully there will be more Roman to come from them.  

Roman, J.H. 2023. To the Northern Star - Chamber works for flute. Flauguissimo: Yu-Wei Hu, Johan Löfving, Magdalena Loth-Hill, Emily Atkinson, Henrik Persson. Compact Disc. Resonus Classics. RES10316. 

BREMF@Easter - Two Concerts from Brighton Early Music Festival to welcome the Spring

 

Brighton Early Music Festival is offering two concerts to welcome the Spring. First up is the BREMF Consort of Voices, conducted by Deborah Roberts, with a Double 'Bill' programme celebrating music by William Byrd and William Cornysh. (7pm, Saturday 1 April, St Martin's Church, Lewes Rd, Brighton BN2 3HQ). 

You can listen to their performance of Byrd's Ne Irascaris Domine from the European Day of Early Music in 2019 here:

 

Then Fair Oriana perform a programme of contemplative music for Holy Week from around Europe, including the beautiful Leçons de Ténèbres by Couperin. Fair Oriana are sopranos Angela Hicks & Penelope Appleyard, with Harry Buckoke (viola da gamba), Jonatan Bougt (theorbo) and David Wright (organ), and they are joined in the concert by the Celestial Sirens. (7.30pm, Friday 7 April, St Martin's Church, Lewes Rd, Brighton).

Here you can listen to Fair Oriana performing Handel's Eternal Source of Light Divine from their debut album Two Voices:

Tickets for both concerts available from BREMF here.

Brighton Early Music Festival at Christmas

 

Tickets here.

Brighton Early Music Festival 2022

 

My highlights from this year's Brighton Early Music Festival: 

Exceptional music making from such a talented pool of #BREMFLive musicians @brightonemf @flutesandfretsduo @tufnelltrio @horizon.voices #BREMFMedievalEnsemble @liturinamusic #earlymusic #bremf https://t.co/3CYKPCX43C

— Nick Boston 🏳️‍🌈 (@nickb86uk) October 22, 2022

 

Flutes & Frets

Tufnell Trio

 

BREMF Medieval Ensemble

Liturina

Horizon Voices

 

Spiritato & The Marian Consort

 

Exhilarating, energetic, life-affirming playing and singing from @spiritato & @marianconsort in 'Inspiring Bach' @brightonemf #BREMF #earlymusic @ St Martin's Church, Brighton https://t.co/DRUbGWgoUF

— Nick Boston 🏳️‍🌈 (@nickb86uk) October 22, 2022

 

Ensemble Molière, Angela Hicks & Kieran White

Glorious #rameau & stately #lully in 'Les Lullistes contre les Ramoneurs', beautifully played by @ensemblemoliere with enchanting and virtuosic singing from @AngelaHicksSop & @KWhiteTenor - a fine conclusion to @BREMF #BREMF #earlymusic pic.twitter.com/2nLyD0yhdL

— Nick Boston 🏳️‍🌈 (@nickb86uk) October 23, 2022

Brighton Early Music Festival – Midsummer Season, June 2022

Following a highly successful midsummer season last year, BREMF are back this summer with a weekend of events exploring Transition, which will form a year-round theme for the festival. 

The weekend begins with In Transit to the Baroque – ensemble In Echo perform music by Semisy, Willaert, Bertali and Frescobaldi, exploring instrumental music’s journey from the Renaissance into the Baroque periods (7.30pm, Friday 24, St Bartholomew’s Church, Brighton).

Later that night, BREMF Consort of Voices perform sacred music and chant from the Night Offices of Compline and Matins, with music by Tye, Tallis, White, Sheppard, Browne, Palestrina and Victoria (9pm, Friday 24, St Bart’s).

Puppets and instruments combine for a performance by Rust & Stardust for ‘primary-aged children and the young in spirit’ – Endo the Earthworm explores nature in transition, with two performances (Saturday 25, 11am at Royal Spa, Brighton & 2.30pm at The Crew Club, Whitehawk).

Joglaresa are joined by the BREMF Community Choir for ¡Bailemos!, celebrating in style the legacy of founder, Belinda Sykes, who sadly passed away recently. Expect a joyful party of music-making! (5pm, Saturday 25, Royal Spa).

Folk in Transition explores music from the British Isles to the New World, with traditional ballads, Irish jugs, Scottish reels and Appalachian bluegrass, performed by Brighton folk trio Hope Cove (8pm, Saturday 25, Royal Spa).

Aradhana Arts perform Indian Classical music and dance in The Daksha Yagna, a powerful mythological story from the ancient Hindu scriptures (3pm, Sunday 26, Royal Spa). 

And the Midsummer Season ends with Fair Oriana peforming Eliza is the Fairest Queen, with popular songs from the reigns of two queen Elizabeths, including Tudor-tinted arrangements of Vera Lynn, Aretha Franklin and The Beatles (6pm, Sunday 26, Royal Spa).

 

Some tickets voluntary, with suggested donations or pay what you can – check for details.

 

bremf.org.uk

Brighton Early Music Festival - ‘BREMF@home – across the Earth’

For obvious reasons, there will sadly be no live concerts to attend in this year’s Brighton Early Music Festival. However, undeterred, BREMF are presenting a series of events online instead. Events will be premiered at a fixed date and time on YouTube and will remain online for a week. Although the events will be freely available, BREMF are requesting that viewers make a donation in place of buying concert tickets in the normal way via their website. This is crucial, as most of their regular funders have diverted funds to emergency aid during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Events run from Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November. 

Spiritato!

Pocket Sinfonia will perform classics by Mendelssohn and Beethoven, adapted for chamber proportions, with animation and film of the natural world. Meanwhile, Spiritato! take the music of Heinrich Biber, and use puppets made from recycled materials to present Birds, Bugs and other Beasts – a Musical Menagerie. 

Piers Adams (credit: Emma Bailey)

A fifteenth-century barn and the pastoral Sussex landscape are the setting for Ensemble Augelletti’s Arcadian Wilderness, with music by Handel, Corelli, Geminiani and others, whilst James Duncan from Sussex Wildlife Trust is joined by Piers Adams on recorders for Bird Charmer, a talk with music on the song birds of Sussex. 

Joglaresa (credit: Andrew Mason)

Father and son Dirk and Adam Campbell play new and traditional music on a variety of instruments from Africa and Asia in Connections, while Joglaresa introduce us to medieval songs of protest in Rebellion!, including songs challenging corrupt leaders, religion and even sexual norms. Continuing the Sussex theme, Musicke in the Ayre will perform Sweet Ayres of Arcadia, set in the house and gardens of St Mary’s House, Bramber, in the Sussex Downs. 

Despite not being able to audition new ensembles for their prestigious BREMF Live! scheme this year, previous ensembles will be showcased with past and new footage of their musical activities. 

And as ever, the festival will end with a celebration – The Four Faces of Gaia. Four regions of the earth (Africa, India, the Middle East and Europe) and the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) combine in a celebration through traditional and early music and dance. 

For more information, dates and times, and details of how to donate, go to bremf.org.uk.

Brighton Early Music Festival 2017 - Preview

The theme for this year’s Brighton Early Music Festival is ‘Roots’, with the aim of discovering the tangled origins of what today we call classical music.  To that end, and building on the success a couple of years ago of their first major foray into opera, this year includes new productions of not one but two operas.  Monteverdi’s Orfeo was among the earliest of operas as we know the form today, and BREMF’s production, directed by Thomas Guthrie, with musical direction from BREMF Co-Director Deborah Roberts, will include a wonderful young cast of emerging soloists, together with the Monteverdi String Band and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble (8, 11 & 12 November, The Old Market). 

The second opera, Rameau’s Pygmalion comes from the other end of the Baroque period, and has been brought to life by BREMF Early Music Live scheme alumni, the Ensemble Molière.  Karolina Sofulak’s staging uses animated film and simplified texts, taking the action into the streets of 21^st century Paris (28, 29 October, Sallis Benney Theatre).  The Ensemble Molière also manage to squeeze in a concert of ‘Dance Sweets’, examples of French baroque dance music, between two performances of the opera (29 October, Sallis Benney Theatre).

Musica Poetica

Alongside opera, the other developing form explored this year is the oratorio, with Carissimi’s Jephte, often seen as the first great example, receiving a performance by Musica Poetica, alongside motets and cantatas by de Wert, Cozzolani, Caccini and Frescobaldi (4 November, St George’s Church).  Then concluding the festival is an early Christmas present, Bach’s wonderful Christmas Oratorio, perfo rmed by the festival’s own BREMF Singers & Players, directed by John Hancorn (12 November, St Martin’s Church, Lewes Rd).

Calcutta

Taking the ‘Roots’ theme further afield, the Ensemble Tempus Fugit present an intriguing evening, ‘Calcutta’, which explores the collision of English music by Purcell and Locke with Indian song and dance in late 18^th century Calcutta.  With music performed by both Indian and western classical singers and instrumentalists, this promises to be a fascinating mix of musical worlds (5 November, St Bartholomew’s).

Musica Secreta & Celestial Sirens

The BREMF Consort of Voices, together with the Laycock Scholars, explore the journey from plainsong and ancient chant melodies to the masterpieces of polyphony, including a performance of Tallis’ wonderful 40-part motet, Spem in alium (28 October, St Bartholomew’s).  And following on from their groundbreaking recording earlier this year (check out my review in March’s GScene), Musica Secreta and the Celestial Sirens bring us music from the great convent choirs of Ferrara, with music by Josquin, Gombert and works probably composed by Lucretia Borgia’s daughter, Leonora d’Este (3 November, St Paul’s Church).

L'Avventura London & Old Blind Dogs

The Consone Quartet explore the roots of the classical string quartet (28 October, St Paul’s), whilst the acclaimed English folk duo, The Askew Sisters investigate the links between expressions of nature in folk and early music (2 November, Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea).  Two ensembles, L’Avventura London & Old Blind Dogs bring Orpheus Caledonius, the first publication of traditional Scottish songs and their melodies, to life, joined by the BREMF Community Choir (27 October, St George’s).  And it’s back to Scotland, as Ensemble Hesperi delve into the world of Scottish baroque music and the connections with folk music (4 November, Friends' Meeting House).  Then the Chelys Viol Consort unravel the origins of renaissance melodies, re-used and borrowed by composers through history (10 November, St George’s). 

The Telling

So where to next?  Well, retiring BREMF Co-Director, Clare Norburn’s ensemble The Telling are in Spain, looking at the collaboration of Christian, Muslim and Jewish musicians at the 13^th century court of Alfonso el Sabio, followed by the later exiling of Jews (9 November, St Paul’s).  Back to Italy, there’s more Monteverdi, and music from contemporaries, exploring the vocal and instrumental sonata, with Gawain Glenton (cornetto), Oliver Webber (violin) and Claire Williams (harpsichord) (11 November, The Old Market).  And for younger audiences (and others) the Little Baroque Company tell the tale of The Pigeon and the Albatross, with music by Telemann, Handel, Vivaldi and Biber (11 November, Komedia and South Portslade Community Centre). 

The Gesualdo Six

BREMF Live! showcases this year’s crop of Early Music Live scheme ensembles.  The Gesualdo Six male vocal ensemble has already begun to attract widespread attention, and are not to be missed.  They are joined by recorder duo Flauti d’echo, chamber ensembles Istante and Improviso, and Rumorum, who perform songs from medieval Germany.  These showcases offer a great opportunity to these young ensembles, and give audiences the chance to catch them at the start of their careers (4 November, St Paul’s).  And at the BREMF Clubnight, you can hear highlights from the showcase in a more informal setting (4 November, The RoseHill Arts Hub).

OAE Tots

And if you’re quick of the mark, there are a few pre-festival events worth checking out.  The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment bring one of their innovate interactive ‘ OAE Tots’ concerts, ‘The Apple Tree’ to Brighton – ideal for 2-5 year olds but younger children also welcome (7 October, Friends’ Meeting House).  With choral workshops on Monteverdi (14 October, St Martin’s Church) and the Chorales from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (15 October, St Paul’s), and a Lute workshop led by Toby Carr (22 October, The Rose Hill Arts Hub), there are lots of opportunities for you to join in too.  And if you want to hear more, with talks, performance tasters and discussion on the Roots theme, don’t miss the BREMF introduction and preview Day, ‘Exploring the Roots of Western Music’ (21 October, Brighton Unitarian Church).

As ever, BREMF have managed to pack an awful lot into just a few weeks, and have managed to present a programme of incredible variety, whilst also giving the festival a coherent theme throughout.  With such an eclectic mix, there is surely something here for everyone.

For details, times and tickets, visit www.bremf.org.uk.  Tickets are also available from the Brighton Dome Ticket Office (01273 709709).