The Belgian ensemble Zefiro Torna takes us into a timeless universe with a reinterpretation of the popular 17th-century broken consort music. Melodies by flautist Jowan Merckx received new arrangements from composers Marnix De Cat and Martin Valcke for flute, violin, viola da gamba, violone, harp and lute. The newly written music bears traces of baroque and traditional music from across Europe. The music, sometimes melancholic, sometimes supple and festive, fascinates through its ingeniously crafted texture and invites one to dance.
The English Broken Consort was around 1600 one of the most popular instrumental chamber music forms. Exquisite authors or composers such as Thomas Morley, Peter Philips, William Byrd and John Dowland wrote entire books full of lessons for this ensemble consisting of wind instruments, strings and plucked instruments. Their arrangements of popular tunes and dance-like pavanes and galliards often served as entertainment during theatrical performances. Compositions such as "Hold fast" or "Follow me" provided a humorous note, while the slow "Tears" and "Lamentations of a Sorrowful Soul" brought contemplation. The instruments offered additional symbolism: viols and gambas were used for harmonious love scenes, flutes for fear and death, and plucked instruments for festive occasions.
Jowan Merckx, flautist of the Belgian ensemble Zefiro Torna and an established musician in the world of traditional and early music, is fascinated by centuries-old traditions. He composes tunes and melodies that bear traces of traditional music from across Europe or that are inspired by medieval, renaissance and baroque music. The titles of his pieces refer to a place, an event, a philosophical reflection or a state of mind. Sometimes they are simply a play on words, one of Jowan's guilty pleasures.
For the programme TIME CRAWLS, Flemish composers Martin Valcke and Marnix De Cat were asked to arrange a selection of melodies from Jowan's extensive oeuvre for a broken consort with flute, violin, viola da gamba, violone, harp and lute. De Cat and Valcke let their inspiration run free. They wrote timeless, intriguing and exciting music. They built on Jowan's melodies and added an extra dimension to the music rooted in "roots". They designed sophisticated polyphonic and contrapuntal configurations, enhanced the dance character and drew a cinematic sound landscape.
The newly composed consort music is performed by an international collective of excellent musicians, who seamlessly switch between early, contemporary and improvised music. Enigmatic works such as 't Wolfsuur, Time crawls and le Lac profond fascinate through their refined tonal language. Ingeniously crafted pavanes, bourrées, gigues, etc. leave no one unmoved and invite one to dance.