Early Music Society of the Islands

Ensemble Clausulae (CANADA)
2027-03-13 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Vancouver) | Christ Church Cathedral, 911 Quadra Street at Rockland Avenue, Victoria, British Columbia, V8V 3G8, Canada
Notre Dame – Laying the Cornerstone of Western Music
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A young novice monk travels from Canterbury to Paris to study at its famous school, the Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris, witnessing the building of the great cathedral and the birth of polyphonic music.
Let us take you back in time to the beginnings of the great Notre Dame de Paris. As it rises to dominate the skyline of Paris, something profound is happening with music that will resound through the centuries.
This Special Event celebrates the building of Notre Dame and a seminal moment in the development of Western Music with the premiere of an original, theatrical production: an imagined tale of a young novice monk who travels from Canterbury to Paris to study music. Over his lifetime, he witnesses the building of the great cathedral and participates in some of the most consequential events in the early history of Western music. Two narrators and a group of vocal and instrumental ensembles making up Ensemble Clausulae will take the audience on an entertaining and illuminating journey through these formative years, with Victoria’s gothic cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, standing in for Notre Dame. Special guest, Benjamin Bagby, one of the foremost interpreters of medieval music over the past 40 years, will travel here from Paris, to contribute as a musical consultant and coach and fill the role of one of the narrators.
Music from the late 12th and early 13th centuries by Léonin, Pérotin, and Philippe Le Chancelier, along with secular music of the time.
NOTE: This Special Event is not eligible for Membership Package vouchers.

Ensemble Caprice (CANADA)
2027-04-24 19:30 - 21:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R3, Canada
The King’s Music & Tavern Songs
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An EMSI favourite Ensemble Caprice, led by the indefatigable Matthias Maute, returns with music from Purcell to Handel, interwoven with traditional music from the British Isles.
From Purcell to Handel, this program enters the vibrant musical world of the British Isles, where the elegance of the court, the brilliance of the theatre, and the vitality of popular tradition were never far apart. Refined arias of longing and lament stand beside sparkling recorder concertos, ground-bass variations, and dances whose roots reach into taverns, streets, and country gatherings.
The recorder becomes both virtuoso voice and storyteller, moving freely between grace and mischief, courtly poise and rustic swing. Purcell’s theatrical imagination, Handel’s Italianate brilliance, and the earthy energy of anonymous tunes from the 18th century meet in a single, beguiling musical language.
Throughout the program, high and low constantly trade places: a noble lament can sound disarmingly intimate, while a popular tune may suddenly reveal the refinement of chamber music. With Ensemble Caprice, Matthias Maute, and soprano Janelle Lucyk, this concert celebrates music that is sophisticated, playful, deeply expressive, and irresistibly alive. Let the dance begin — and raise your glass!
Tentative programme:
Jacob van Eyck (c. 1590–1657)
Engels Nachtegaeltje
Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
Three in One upon a Ground
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Lascia ch’io pianga — from the opera Rinaldo
Fra tempeste — from the opera Giulio Cesare
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Concerto per flautino, two violins and basso continuo

Anonymous (18th century)
Johnny Cock thy Beaver
Budro
The Duke of Norfolk
Francesco Geminiani / Arcangelo Corelli (1687–1762 / 1653–1713)
La Follia
Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
O let me weep — from the opera The Fairy Queen
Remember me — from the opera Dido and Aeneas
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
Concerto per flauto (Tempo di Gavotta)
Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
Dance Suite
A New Scotch Tune
If Music Be the Food of Love
Fairest Isle
Chaconne from The Fairy Queen
