Performer Name: Chelys Consort of Viols
Show Name: What Is Our Life
Show Description
2025 is the 400th anniversary of the death of the great English composer Orlando Gibbons. We celebrate with a programme that showcases the different aspects of his music - sacred pieces written for the Chapel Royal, secular pieces published in his madrigal collection, and a selection of his glorious consort music for viols. Chelys are joined by soprano Gwendolen Martin and tenor David de Winter.
Yes
Described by Gramophone as having released 'unquestionably the most beautiful recording of the Lachrimae', Chelys have garnered a reputation for their faithful yet fresh interpretations of the consort repertoire. They take their name from an ancient Greek word which referred to a bowed lyre, said to have been invented by the god Hermes. The word was borrowed by the English violist Christopher Simpson on the title page of his treatise 'The Division Viol' when he translated the work into Latin. Perhaps this is what inspired their world premiere recording of Simpson's Airs for two trebles and two basses, a disc described as ‘wonderfully supple, propulsive and alive’ by the Guardian.