Baroque+ Day: University Baroque Ensemble & Ensemble Hesperi

Join University Baroque Ensemble on International Women’s Day to celebrate the musical tastes and talents of Queen Charlotte, Consort to King George III. Charlotte, now famous in popular culture from the hit Netflix show Bridgerton, had a lifelong love of music. Not only was Charlotte an excellent harpsichordist and singer, but she also loved to organise musical events for others and to encourage young women composers and performers. Throughout her lifetime, she collected her own manuscript and printed music, much of which still survives in the British Library in beautiful bindings. This programme recreates music from Charlotte’s personal collection and by the many musicians she employed in her concerts: a symphony by JC Bach, the Queen’s beloved music master, who taught her the harpsichord; a flute concerto by Bach’s good friend Carl Abel, also a member of the Queen’s Band; a concerto grosso and cantata by Handel, whose music Charlotte and George III both loved; a keyboard and violin sonata by Jane Mary Guest, who taught Charlotte’s children the piano; Scots tunes and more, alongside readings from Queen Charlotte’s own diaries and those of her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte.

Programme to include: JC Bach Six Symphonies, op. 3, no. 1 Handel Tra le fiamme, HWV 170 Handel Concerto Grosso op. 3, no. 4, HWV 315 James Oswald A Curious Collection of Scots Tunes Carl Friedrich Abel Concerto in G for Flute and Strings, WK 50