M4: Bawdy Song: Sean Shibe and Ben Johnson

Sean Shibe, guitar

Ben Johnson, tenor

Raucous drinking songs and lusty declarations of heartbreak come together in an energising selection of lute-song and folk arrangements. William Walton and Benjamin Britten illuminate Tudor texts and familiar tunes in their own inimitable styles, by turn haunting and hilarious. Prefacing that, England’s Elizabethan lutenist-composers demonstrate a sublime understanding of vocal melody and laconic affect while 20th and 21st century composers allude to Baroque masters obliquely - homage and spectacle culminating in Thomas Adès’s devastatingly beautiful realisation of Purcell’s Evening Hymn.

‘Shibe’s music-making is masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way.’ The Times

This concert is kindly sponsored by William and Wera Hobhouse