Events

A Royal Concert: Music for the King’s Chamber. PACIFIC BAROQUE FESTIVAL 2012 “MUSIC FOR THE SUN KING”

South Vancouver Island

Thu. February 9th, 2012 11:00am - 12:15pm

Discover the musical brilliance of Versailles and beyond. This concert features the seductive sound of the viola da gamba, with captivating music by Marin Marais and Ste Colombe, performed by the world’s finest viola da gambist, Paolo Pandolfo. Also includes chamber works by arguably the two greatest composers at Versailles, Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

The French court at the time of the Sun King, Louis XIV, was an age of artistic splendour, with lavish spectacles and musical entertainments, and richly instrumented music for the church and Parisian concert life. To further his political ends, Louis invested in the arts, determined to make them a metaphor of political stability. He attracted to his court some of Europe’s most enlightened composers who in many ways revolutionized music.

Pacific Baroque Festival 2012 presents music written for the 17th and 18th century French courts, and will show how French music at the Court at Versailles influenced two great German composers, Telemann and Bach.

This concert is the first of five Festival events.