The Alehouse Sessions

Product Information

Some four centuries later, the Barokksolistene created the Alehouse Sessions, a project in which they perform folk melodies, sea-shanties, bawdy ballads and cheeky ditties alongside ayres and dances by Purcelland Playford in homage to the sonic world of 17th century tavern music. Eike is a charismatic artist with a talent for conceiving imaginative live and recording projects … Innately theatrical, genre bending and suffused with great musicianship and string playing, this is a substantial and fine piece of work. In this interview, Bjarte Eike, artistic director of the Barokksolistene, talks about genesis of The Alehouse Sessions. But perhaps most exciting are the relationships the disc establishes between Purcell’s music and the nicely spoken melodies from Playford’s English Dancing Master and their bastard musical relations in other genres. You can also use the external lift near the Artists' Entrance on Southbank Centre Square to reach Mandela Walk, Level 2.

For step-free access from the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road off Belvedere Road to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating (excluding rows A to C) and wheelchair spaces in the Rear Stalls, plus Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer and the Purcell Room, please use the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance. Hans Knut Sveen plays anything from harpsichord to harmonium; Frederik Bock plays any kind of continuo – guitar, lute, theorbo and any style up to blue grass; Johannes Lundberg’s roots are in jazz; Milos Valent is one of the greatest Slovak folk string players; Per Buhre is a countertenor and cider-maker extraordinaire; Helge Andreas Norbakken plays all sorts of percussion and drives steam locomotives; Tom Guthrie is a stage director and vocal entrepreneur; Steven Player is our unstoppable pony-tailed dancing Romeo; and I have found a new thrill in jumping out of aeroplanes and teaching yoga. The chemistry of a group is one of those – the sparks of musical energy that fly when certain artists collide. In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers.

You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the Queen Elizabeth Hall, so please leave large bags at home. Case in point was the “Travel Set,” which cycled through tunes from Norway, Scotland, Denmark, Shetland, and a jovial take on “The MTA Song” with ease. A new flowering of theatre music takes place, where masques and dumbshows rub alongside Shakespeare and commedia dell’arte in beautiful union. Other morsels, such as “Curtain Tune” (incidental music for Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens") and “Lead Me” (set by Henry Purcell for a production of "Bonduca") are plucked from the Jacobean tree. Directed by award-winning director Dominic Best, the film captures the sound world of rebellious London as musicians and performers sought refuge in teh backrooms of taverns and alehouses.

There was the percussive backbone of Fredrik Bock on charango and the dancing of Steven Player, the equally rhythmic core of Buhre and Guthrie on their backing strings, the lively bassing of Johannes Lundberg, the rustic vivacity of viol(in)ist Milos Valent, and the harmonium of Hans Knut Sveen.The Alehouse Sessions', curated and devised by Bjarte Eike, is an evolving insight into the music of the English 17th Century tavern. I must admit that the prospect of a musical recreation of a long boozy session in a seventeenth-century tavern had me on high cringe-alert, but I'm so very glad I gave this a spin - the result somehow manages to feel authentic and contemporary at the same time (and had one of my most curmudgeonly colleagues dancing in his seat when he thought I wasn't looking). Beauty meets melancholy as rich hybrids of folk and classical bang heads with drinking songs, elegies, sea-shanties and bawdy ballads.

The Boys, otherwise known as Barokksolistene, provide the entertainment, playing music by Purcell and Playford, as well as sea shanties and folk songs – all from memory. Everyone in the Barokksolistene is expected to sing, dance, move, play multiple instruments and generally have fun. Attendees can book a double-bill of tickets, with The Purcell Playhouse kicking off proceedings at 9pm in the Purcell Room, recreating the raucousness of a night at the theatre after the 18 year theatre closures under Cromwell came to an end. Bjarte Eike’s Barokksolistene is an alchemical miracle of an ensemble, a collective of virtuosos whose instinctive, playful communication and delight in one another’s skill amplifies their individual performances, transforming them into pure musical gold … here’s a wonderfully egalitarian quality to music-making that weaves its way from court to dockyard to tavern without pause. The latter tune is carried magnificently by singer Thomas Guthrie, whose approach to lyric is informed by his own love of theater, and makes its presence felt in a smattering of standalone ditties, elegies, and sea shanties.The Alehouse Sessions aims to capture the atmosphere and sounds of London at a time where the theatres were closed (thanks to Oliver Cromwell). Curated by Bjarte Eike, Barokksolistene bring their unique performance experience to create the essence and atmosphere of 17th century London when Oliver Cromwell's laws that prohibited excess and closed theatres abolished the city's arts scene. They also brought great humor to their presentation, interrupting their opening number, for instance, to play out a drunken brawl in slow motion. The incredible Barokksolistene musicians perform music by Purcell and Playford, mixed with sea shanties and folk songs – entirely from memory. The Alehouse Sessions is produced by Dominic Best for AdLib Productions and the commissioning editor is Stephen James-Yeoman.

In addition to their formal concerts of Baroque repertoire, Eike and his colleagues have, since 2007, developed another strand of performances.Of course, all baroque music requires a degree of improvisation – whether secular or ceremonial music. Since 2007 he and his Barokksolistene ensemble have taken over venues from London’s Middle Temple Hall to a motorcycle club outside Oslo (the bikers moved their Harleys out on to the street to make room). The exotic musical sound-world of 17th-century London is brought vividly to life by one of the world's most dynamic and virtuosic performing groups - Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene - plus a cameo appearance by celebrated soprano Mary Bevan. Shot on location at one of London’s oldest taverns, The George Inn, Southwark, and Battersea Arts Centre. Part two is The Alehouse Sessions, where the action moves to the ‘tavern’ (a role played this evening by the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer).