Ensemble for all instruments – Constance Allanic
About Renaissance music & early baroque
We delve into some pieces and dance tunes from different countries from the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. We will look at how to make this ancient music sound beautiful and the dances dance-like on our “modern” instruments, and look for arrangements. A limited number of melodies will be covered, so we will have plenty of time to go into depth and, if there is sufficient enthusiasm, we may also get our feet on the floor: because many Renaissance and Baroque melodies are dance tunes.
Level of playing
Participants must have a good command of their instrument in order to be able to play together with other musicians. They have outgrown the beginner’s level and are of (semi) advanced level. Participants can of course tune their own instrument correctly & the instrument is in good condition. They can quickly pick up a melody to play together.
About Constance Allanic
Constance Allanic is a professional musician based in Utrecht and teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Trained as a modern harpist (with Erika Waardenburg) and then on viola da gamba (with Anneke Pols), she focuses on historical performance practice on instruments from both the harp and viola da gamba families. She is an expert on Baroque and Renaissance music. She is also a qualified dance teacher and has been part of Fiori di Folia (Renaissance and Baroque dance) and Čerga (Hungarian and Roma folklore) as a dancer.
Constance Allanic:
“For me, playing music composed at a time when no recordings existed is a form of archaeology. I want, nay, I must find out what a piece of music might have sounded like when it was contemporary, in a world as far removed from our 21st-century reality as the planet Mars. Not because I so necessarily think I can figure out the composer’s intention (who am I to claim I can ever fathom Master Bach’s intention?) but because it makes sense. Just as Chopin on a harpsichord doesn’t make much sense.
Whether the notes are sacred to me? Sure, but not all notes are so to the same extent or in the same way, and they are certainly not the only sacred thing. And sacred or not, you should always do something with them!“
.Also listen to recordings of Constance:
• Camerata Trajectina – Spiegel im Spiegel & Mondscheinsonate
• Camerata Trajectina – Est ce mars – Sweelinck
• Amourette – Matthew Locke Suite in d minor/major
• Luceros y Flores
• Muse of Albion