Sound Unwrapped: The Sixteen with Julian Joseph

Celebrated jazz pianist Julian Joseph joins The Sixteen for an evening of music by and inspired by Monteverdi, sparking off a conversation between two distinctive sound worlds, five hundred years apart.

While jazz musicians improvise over bass riffs, Monteverdi’s continuo section did just the same – performers on chittarone, harp and harpsichord were given the freedom to extemporise and express their musical characters over the composer’s hypnotic bass lines.

Harry Christophers of The Sixteen and Julian Joseph plan to fuse the two traditions, allowing baroque instruments and the modern piano and bass to represent the sentiments and imagery conjured up by the evocative words Monteverdi sets to music.

Each half will be, in effect, a continuous fusion of the styles, mostly in conversation with each other but occasionally coming together as one. Look forward to a unique and atmospheric sonic experience which unites two styles and eras.