The Heart of the Drawing Room

Featuring: Soprano, Pepe Becker and harpist, Helen Webby. With special guests Rare Byrds.

A concert recital of Celtic-related chamber music works, known as drawing-room music. Guest appearance by medieval music ensemble Rare Byrds.

From the mid-17th century onward, as baroque music began to replace the traditional harpers and balladeers in the houses of both the old and the new aristocracy in the Celtic lands, traditional airs, dances and songs were incorporated, taken up by classical composers and musicians of both the concert hall and the drawing room.

This concert contains songs from Robbie Burns and Thomas Moore, and music from Carolan, Haydn and Britten, from the blind Welsh harper John Parry and the virtuoso royal harper John Thomas, there are echoes of harper and soprano Mary O'hara and harper-composer Derek Bell. The baroque soprano voice of Pepe Becker and the virtuosity of harper Helen Webby are ideal vehicles to conjure the enchantment of this genteel Celtic tradition.

This event is part of the Dunedin Celtic Arts Festival.

Event listed by Victoria Bunton

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