Baroque ensemble tells the story of Devon through music

The Morley Consort, a London-based early music ensemble, is embarking on a small tour through Devon, with concerts in Tavistock, Ashburton, Totnes, and Exeter, with a finale concert aboard the Golden Hinde in London.

Comprising recent graduates (and one current PhD student) at the Royal Academy of the Music, the quartet currently performs on instruments as they would have been set up in the seventeenth century, and is dedicated to researching technical and social aspects of early music-making.

Jude Chandler, who plays string bass instruments with the ensemble, said: “While our understanding of performance practice in music since the 16th century has improved immeasurably since the early music scene developed in the 1970s, dramatically less thought has been dedicated to scrutinizing the choices made then about instrument styles, construction and setups: resulting in little progress towards a more accurate - and in my opinion interesting - sound world. The Morley Consort aims to stay at the forefront of this area of research – hopefully paving the way for greater interest in earlier instrument technology within young professional circles”

The tour is supported by grants from the Continuo Foundation and the Totnes Trust, and the concerts present a programme which weaves together history from Devon – including chapters devoted to King Arthur, Viking raids, civil war, and climate change - using music and readings from first-hand historical accounts. The programme will also highlight the life and times of Sir Francis Drake (born in Tavistock and a longtime MP for Devon) who had onboard, during his circumnavigation of the globe on the original Golden Hind, a quartet of stringed instruments played by “expert musitians.”

Madison Marshall, a violist and violinist with the Morley Consort, described the tour as an opportunity to experience the past in a multi-sensory way: “With the repertoire on this programme, we get to showcase everything from the hair-raising drama of theatre music to the transcendent other-worldliness of sacred music and the foot-stomping vivacity of folk music. It’s such a fun setlist, and putting it together with spoken storytelling and the context of a Devonian setting brings a new dimension to both the music and the history we’re highlighting.”

The Morley Consort’s performances will take place at Tavistock Parish Church on September 17th, St. Lawrence Chapel in Ashburton on September 18, at the Totnes Guildhall on September 19, and at St. Nicholas Priory in Exeter on September 20. Tickets are available here at the Morley Consort website