The program, which was continuously played without applause from the second item until the last, was made up mostly of music from the early Baroque with the exception of two very modern works. Music of Selma y Saalverde, Giovanni Bassano, Thomas Preston, Francesco Cavalli and Maurizio Cazzati. With the exception of Thomas Preston, about whom we know very little, the rest are from families of working, practicing intergenerational musicians who were publishing music to share their secrets and craft with other educated musicians across Europe.

But first to one of the two modern contemporary works featured. The program opened with Slow Twitchy Organs by Nico Muhly (b 1981), a great minimalist composer and favourite of mine. The work was much nicer than you might have thought from the title. In fact we were lulled into the work which morphed from instruments tuning, into the background for a respectful Acknowledgement of Country into the work itself. Which was typical Muhly: purposeful, dignified and bare. Bravo to Donald Nicolson who seemed to guide things from the keyboard as the audience settled in as we were asked not to applause or interrupt the flow from then on.

Most of our journey together explored the early 17th century world of the ornamented line. A number of works were based on popular music of the time, and would have been familiar to a small but educated and powerful bunch of people. Two of these are by Palestrina, Tota pulchra es and Io son ferito ahi lasso. The other two Canzona’s explored the new expressive style of instrumental writing emerging from Venice at the time. It was heartening to hear from other concert goers that these works, in this case by de Selma y Salaverde and Cavalli,  are becoming increasingly familiar and loved by audiences.
In the midst of these highly ornamented works was the equally sophisticated The Things That Bind Us by Melbourne composer and musician Luke Howard. A beautiful work of restraint juxtaposed with passages of colour and explosion that complemented the program.

I must add my appreciation for the use of the Lira da Gamba, which had a number of additional strings and was played by Laura during  Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina arr. Taegiio’s version of Io son ferito ahi lasso. The strummed chords were other worldly and added so much resonance and beauty to the other parts.

The concert ended with a Passacaglia by Maurizio Cazzati. We had been warned that that final work was in the major key following all the rest of the meditative meanderings were in the minor key. But somehow we just knew by its soothing and lyrical beauty that we were coming to an end of our meditation. The work drove home Julia Fredersdorff’s expert touch and tone on the baroque violin, with its gut strings and curved bow, which she made sing and speak to us across the evening.

Being together as an audience throughout without breaks for discussion or applause ultimately bound us together much like the title to Luke Howard’s work describes. And we emerged as one does from a period of meditation, refreshed, a little bleary eyed with wonder at the experience and looking forward to the next concert by Latitude 37.