The Royall Consort

The Royall Consort of King Charles I was at the cutting edge of 17th century music, and today it lives again with Academy of Ancient Music.

King Charles I was a connoisseur of the visual arts, but he had exquisite taste in music, too, and the brilliant young composer and courtier William Lawes flooded the Stuart court with some of Britain’s – and Europe’s – most innovative (and ravishing) sounds.

Today Academy of Ancient Music celebrates an era of cavaliers and courtly dances, playing music by Lawes and his contemporaries from home and abroad. Elegant seduction, playful conversation and the looming shadow of civil war all find a voice, as the instruments of the Renaissance meet a flamboyant upstart called the violin. This is musical time travel: a whole evening in a vanished age, recreated through music. It’s witty, it’s elegant, and it touches the heart.

There will be a free pre-concert talk in the auditorium at 6.30pm.