Friday, January 10th, 2025 at 6.30 in the Parish Hall of Saint Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman, Berkeley

THE BAREFOOT  ALL-STARS: Peter Hallifax, Julie Jeffrey, David Morris, Farley Pearce, and Lynn Tetenbaum; viols,
with special guests Wendy Gillespie, treble viol and Andrew Canepa, organ

The Consort Music Wars: Jenkins v. Lawes

[Like all our midwinter viol consort concerts, this concert is very special, in fact it is even doubly special, because we were going to present this concert last season, but it had to be cancelled at the last minute because of a case of Covid. Finally, here it is!].

 William Lawes and John Jenkins both had the unusual experience of working at the court of Charles I, a man with great wealth and power who loved the viol and its music. However, Lawes died at the age of 42 at the Battle of Chester during the Civil War, whereas Jenkins lived on even after the king was executed, survived that ill-fated experiment in a sort of democracy (the “Commonwealth”) as a resident musician in the house of a wealthy Catholic, and was then pointlessly employed by the court again after the restoration of the monarchy, by a new king who had no interest in viol music. A full life, indeed.

However, back before all that, in the 1620s, 1630s, and early 1640s, these two great composer-viol players were well-paid colleagues, but with radically different styles. Lawes was forever experimenting, and Jenkins was content to perfect what he did. As both were virtuosic viol players, their music is challenging to the players, although in different ways.

“Jenkins or Lawes?” has become somewhat of a thing, as in “Beatles or Stones?”, “Blue Collar or Dog Collar?”, “Mescal or Scotch?”, “Taylor Swift or Beyoncé?”. So we are presenting an entire concert with just these two apex composers; you can choose your composer, or choose to stay on the fence, as you like.

In any event, we are sure you will agree on this: that Jenkins’ and Lawes’ six part consorts are clearly some of the finest music ever written for a consort of viols; this is really the music that dreams are made on.

The concert is the seventh of what has become an annual series of mid-winter viol consort concerts, and we recommend reserving seats, as this concert has been extremely popular in the past. We are especially delighted to be able to add organist Andrew Canepa to this concert: adding a continuo organ to viol consort music had become a standard, though not obligatory, practice for viol consort music in this period, and we are very fortunate this year to be able to add the sound, as one contemporary wrote, [of] the Organ, Evenly, Softly, and Sweetly According to all”.

6.30 pm, Friday, January 10, 2024 in the Parish Hall of Saint Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St, Berkeley,

Please enter the Hall from the parking lot (go down the entry ramp 50 yards East of the Church on Berryman), and then down a flight of stairs to the West of the parking area. 

Admission $25 (no one turned away for lack of funds).
You can reserve a seat in advance by email to info@barefootchamberconcerts.com, and pay at the door when you come (recommended).