Before George Frideric Handel arrived in London in 1712 and swept all before him, there existed a curious and captivating world of English music. The intricately woven tradition of English consort music was soon overshadowed by the fashionable arrival of Italian opera.
Step into this half-forgotten world with the music of William Lawes (1602–1645), Matthew Locke (1621–1677) and Henry Purcell (1659–1695). This is a place where sentiment, mystery and flashes of wild abandon lead us down pathways that are both familiar and thrillingly new.
