A small but appreciative audience enjoyed a performance of Renaissance Music on original instruments given by Norwich group Minstrels Gallery in the appropriate surroundings of the Dominican Priory (by kind permission of Don & Poppy Beerling).
The context was established by their first playing a number of pieces illustrating medieval music, said to be more God-centred, before proceeding to a wide range of music from the Renaissance which reflected the growth of humanism. Several of these pieces were dance music, said to be typical in this respect - illustrating human contact and the possibility of display.
About half of the pieces in the programme were British, including a couple thought to be by Henry VIII, but many came from Europe or further afield such as the Canary Islands.
The four performers had brought a wide range of instruments with distinctive sounds, many of which no longer exist except as replicas - crumhorns, shawms, sackbuts, citterns and others - and it was interesting to see how some were obvious predecessors of modern instruments such as the bassoon. The players talked about and explained their instruments during the performance itself, and more informally during the interval.
The Group apologized for collective croaky voices following a concert on the previous day - but this in no way detracted from the enjoyment of an unusual and stimulating evening.

Alan Boniface