The Bellot Ensemble

The Bellot Ensemble, three of whom are coming to play for us on January 15th, have had an extremely successful year. Already Continuo Foundation grantees, in the last year they have been selected as a Britten Pears Young Artist group 2025-6, the next New Generation Baroque Ensemble by Radio 3, The Royal College of Music and the National Centre for early Music – and – last week they launched their first record, Cupid’s Ground Bass.

Ground Bass?

In case you are wondering what a Ground Bass is, Cupid’s or anyone else’s:
‘Ground Bass is a composition technique built upon a short theme played in the bass which constantly repeats with changing harmonies.
The bass theme does not change, but the parts above the bass change and develop. Ground Bass has its origins in cantus firmus, a development of plainsong in which a repeated melody was sung and other tunes played alongside it in counterpoint. Many 16th and 17th century instrumentalists used to improvise melodies over the top of a repeated bass pattern.’ Thank you Britannica.

Back to the Bellot

So, as you will by now have gathered, Bellot are a period instrument group known for style-specific improvisation. Specialising in 17th-century repertoire, ‘the ensemble combines rigorous historical research with spontaneous creativity’. Founder of Bellot, violinist Edmund Taylor, says: ‘We return to the earliest manuscripts and prints wherever possible. It gives us a clearer picture of how the music functioned for performers of the time, and it informs the style we bring to it today.’

There are seven players in the full Bellot Ensemble but we are having three of them: Lucine Musaelian – Voice & Viola da gamba, Edmund Taylor – Violin and Daniel Murphy – Theorbo & Lute.

Their programme, Venice to London in Music and Memory, draws a line between two musical cultures. ‘In Venice we hear vivid contrasts, fluid forms, and vocal expressivity in the works of Cavalli, Strozzi, Pandolfi, Fontana, and Marini. In London, the mood shifts. Music becomes more introspective, shaped by dance, counterpoint, and finely measured speech. From Locke and Purcell to Dowland, Hume, and Byrd, these pieces reflect a different way of thinking. Yet echoes of Italian style remain, travelling not through scores but through memory, imitation, and exchange.’

For the full programme – and to book – see the booking page here.

The concert will be followed by a buffet supper referencing 17th century Italian grand dining!

Messiaen’s Quartet for the end of Time.

I had hoped to bring you a report of through the noise’s performance of Messiaen’ Quartet for the end of Time and improvistions which happened at Fabric night club last night. But…. I have been suffering from some dreaded lurgy which means that by 4pm I am worse than a washed out dishrag. So much though I was desperate to see it, I simply couldn’t face the treck down to Smithfield. Apologies…

Yo Yo Ma plays for whales

However, as compensation. I must have signed up at some point to a Yo Yo Ma newsletter. Anyhow, into my inbox this afternoon popped a link to his podcast in which ‘Yo-Yo goes around the country to places where people have deep connections to the earth – and begins to play’. Yo-Yo has apparently wanted for years to use his cello to try to communicate with whales – and, in Hawai’i he gets a chance, with help from the Polyneisan Voyaging Society and hula master Snowbird Bento.

There are eight episodes in all. I only listened to the whales in Hawaii, but it was fascinating. I shall certainly go back for more.

Meanwhile….

Have you booked for 11th December, London Chamber Ensemble. To book go here.

Or for……

Sunday 18th January – Highgate Society Sunday Lunchtime concert.

Catriona Bourne (jazz harp) and Francis Tulip (guitar) will play some numbers from Cat’s new album, tunes by her favourite jazz harpists and some jazz classics.
To book, go here.

Thursday 26th February – Hampstead Lane

Nathaniel Mander and La Pompadour return to Hampstead Lane with a programme of music that might have been played at the court of the King Louis XV.
Go here for more details and to book.

Wednesday 11th March – Hampstead Lane

Joana Ly, Kirsten Jenson and Dorothea Vogel play Beethoven string trios – followed by buffet supper and wine.
Go here for more details and to book.

Monday 23rd March – Hampstead Lane

An hour with Noel Coward. William Godfree will be bringing ‘the Master’ to life with his songs and tales from his star spangled life.
Go here for more details and to book.