I Dodici: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal

Ensemble I Dodici marks the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s death at the Aurore – Helsinki Renaissance Music Festival with a programme of his exquisite yet rarely performed consort music. The sublime combination of voices and viols, considered to be the crowning jewel in music from the Elizabethan age, was reserved exclusively for the wealthiest of patrons including the most prestigious of all: the Chapel Royal. The concert features the most masterful of Byrd’s verse anthems, consort songs and music for viols performed by a stellar ensemble under the artistic direction of George Parris.

Byrd’s life coincides with the ascendency of “consort music”, a term relating to the performing of fantasias, anthems, songs, and dances in a private setting for the amusement of a select handful of listeners or simply the players themselves. The chief instrument of this was the viola da gamba, or ‘viol’, favoured for its capability to imitate the sound, colour and contour of the human voice. In these pieces, the viols and voices are in effect wedded to each other, continuously complementing and being interchangeable with each other — an idea very different from today where we usually think of the vocal and instrumental as separate entities. 

I Dodici’s viol consort has been specially created for this concert by Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, a founding member of the award-winning group Phantasm and one of Europe’s leading gamba players. I Dodici’s singers arenknown for their superb performances and captivating interpretations of early-modern vocal music. The project is led by british George Parris, whose long experience of performing Byrd’s music goes all the way back to his childhood.

Singers – Linnéa Sundfær Casserly, Sirkku Rintamäki, David Hackston, Mats Lillhannus, Niilo Erkkilä, George Parris, Sampo Haapaniemi

Treble viol – Markku Luolajan-Mikkola

Tenor viol – Maija Lampela, Kristiina Hirvonen

Bass viol – Heidi Peltoniemi, Johanna Randvere

Aurore – Helsinki Renaissance Music Festival  Jan 26th -29th 2023 in St. Pauls church, Helsinki, Finland.  Read more: www.aurore.fi/english