Orpheus, I am - The Myth of Orpheus in Renaissance and early Baroque Song

Musical treasures from England, Italy, and France for Bass Voice, Lute and Archlute

A fascinating journey into the world of English, French and Italian music from the Renaissance to the early Baroque. Songs that deal with the most important issues of life — with love and war, to a rapturous praise of tobacco! The musical mood of the evening is set in the opening song, "Orpheus, I am" by Robert Johnson, in which the bass voice descends to the depths on the word "Hell" and thus warns the careless lovers of the dangers of blind passion. High poetry is offered, passionately set to music by the best composers of the time. Virtuoso art songs by Italian Giulio Caccini contrast touching ballads like "Fortune, my foe". Early songs in Old French with their delightful rhythmic nuances are often deeply moving, but sometimes hilariously funny, as in the drinking song "Qui veut chasser une migraine". Thomas Campion is represented with a song about the girl who never says "no" and a touching lament about a man unable to run away from love.

This program brings the mythical Greek figure of Orpheus to vivid life. Orpheus, powerful singer and player of the lyre, charmed and transformed through the power of his song. As a singer and player of the lute, Joel Frederiksen, recreating ideals put forth in the Renaissance and reaching back to the Greeks, seeks to move the affections of the listeners, to reach the very soul, in concerts of unique intensity. Embodying the character and aesthetic of the Orpheus myth, he accompanies himself in a manner emphasizing sensitive text declamation united with the power of rhetorical principles. Renaissance and early Baroque composers often travelled internationally for study and the furtherance their careers. John Dowland (1563-1626), the "English Orpheus", sojourned to Italy, made important stops in Germany, and eventually procured a position as court lutenist in Denmark. As an American living abroad, Joel Frederiksen looks back to Renaissance and Early Baroque musicians such as Dowland for inspiration, and offers here a program, international in scope, of music from England, Italy and France.

SOLO: Joel Frederiksen — Bass, Lute, Archlute

TRIO with: Ryosuke Sakamoto — Lute, Theorbo, Gamba / Domen Marinčič — Viola da Gamba

Valletta Baroque Festival, Malta (Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina)