Fiddlers Three: Music from Charles II's'Private Musick'

About

An evening of virtuosic music for three violins and continuo by Thomas Baltzar, Gottfried Finger, John Jenkins, Davis Mell, and Henry Purcell.
Supported by Continuo Foundation
At the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II reappointed many of the court
musicians who had served his father. Yet, years in exile in France had changed his own
tastes and preferences and this influenced the reformed musical organisations and the
music written for them. This period saw the decline in consorts of viols and winds, and the
emergence of the violin as the instrument of choice. The arrival in England of German
virtuoso violinist Thomas Baltzar had an undoubted impact on the direction of musical
landscape and the flourishing of the unusual combination of three violins and continuo for
court ensembles. His masterful Suite in C led to a small flourishing of works for the same
forces, by Mattes, Finger, and (undoubtedly the crowning achievement of the genre)
Purcell.