Concert Programmes

Amyas are a versatile band whose core members are experienced performers in repertoire from the 10th century to the present day and have a passion for delving deeply into the instruments, performance practices, and repertoire of many different genres. Some of our programmes span the whole breadth of western music history, whereas others are more specifically orientated in a specific period or genre. We build programmes around stories, celebrations or exciting new research into forgotten music, performance styles or connections between genres and periods. Scroll down for some of our programmes as examples.

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Programmes

The Ghost in the Machine

This programme uncovers the fascinating and little known performance style found in mechanical musical instruments (barrel-organs and organ-clocks) produced in eighteenth-century England. At this time there was a fascination throughout Europe with the mechanical replication of real life. Automata were developed which imitated animals, birds and people (including a live flautist). These were admired (sometimes even feared) for their life-like qualities, and makers of mechanical musical instruments were praised for producing instruments 'with so much delicacy and taste, as to convey a warm idea of the impression which the hand gives on the instrument.'.

These mechanical musical instruments are effectively recordings of musical performances which delighted their audiences at the time they were made, but which can prove challenging both to our ears and our ideas about the ways to perform music from this period. They are undoubtedly highly virtuosic to play, and hugely exciting to listen to as they are resurrected after 200+ years

Yuletide Revels

'Old Christmas' very much returns in this seasonal programme which features both well-known and less familiar songs and dances. A perfect soundtrack to your Christmas preparations, this programme features music from the 13th-18th centuries, from the haunting to the downright barnstorming!

London Calling!

During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, London became a melting pot for a huge number of musical styles as artists from across Europe flocked to be part of its buzzing cultural scene. Folk music from across the British Isles influenced composers from Italy, France and Germany who in turn brought their own home-grown styles to the musical feast.

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Delerium!

Dancing, so often an effusive outpouring of joy and facilitator of social bonds, has a darker side into which Amyas delve in this performance. From hysterical epidemics of estampies sweeping Europe in the 14th C, the 13th C pied-piper luring away unsuspecting children, to the balletic balm for the bite of the despotic tarantula in the 15th C and the ubiquitous ‘dance of death’ in which humans are all entwined, this programme invites a different way of perceiving the often mesmerising and infectious nature of many surviving medieval dances. Featuring a spellbinding mix of spoken word, surviving dance melodies, and Amyas’s own constructed dance forms using other medieval musical sources.

Drive the Cold Winter Away

Candlemas traditionally put the final nail in the coffin of the Christmas season. It marked the time when field labourers had to get back to work and stop enjoying the indulgences which had distracted from the miserable English winter weather. This programme, with a dizzying array of renaissance instruments and vocal numbers, begins with the dark melancholy of winter but gradually warms the cockles with songs, rousing tunes and bawdy ballads to 'Drive the Cold Winter Away'

Vain and Idle Songs

Story telling has always been a vital way to educate, elucidate, commemorate. English medieval ballads, or story-songs, were used to spread moral myths, religious principles, or news of important political events. Since the music was often improvised, there are many lyrics which survive without melodies, whether they were composed by a poet, or written down after having been passed down perhaps for generations. Amyas revive these story-songs using period melodies from England and around Europe and Scandinavia, also incorporating elements of composition, in true bardic tradition. This programme tells a fascinating array of mini-stories, with dance interludes, on subjects as wide ranging as Judas’s betrayal of Christ (from a 13th century manuscript) to Chaucer’s songs of ‘love unreturned’.

Summer of Love

Featuring music from the 12th to 15th centuries, this colourful programme weaves together lilting love songs, delightfully bawdy tunes, and dances that range from sweetly lyrical to irresistibly foot-tapping. Performed on an evocative array of instruments — recorders, voice, fiddle, gitterns, lute, percussion, and bagpipes. The concert celebrates the joy, humour, and heartfelt expression of early music at its most alive. A programme where centuries-old sounds feel fresh, playful, and full of summer spirit.

(Di)visionaries!

Decorating well-known music with elaborate improvised embellishments might sound like something from the jazz age, but it was all the rage (indeed standard practice) from the 15th to the 18th centuries! We explore some of the visionary performer/composers who documented their improvisations and taught others the 'rules' to follow to create their own. We take you on a journey of musical exhuberance through 300 years as well as creating our own improvisations uniquely in every performance!

Get in Touch

If you are looking for a ready-made or bespoke concert programme, do get in touch so we can discuss possibilities Email: amyasensemble@gmail.com

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