Early music in South Suffolk

Yesterday morning I went to Polstead’s very comfortable village hall to attend the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Suffolk Villages Festival. Would that all annual meetings were as agreeable! We enjoyed a good half hour or so of music, in addition to hearing some interesting information about forthcoming events.

I am sure many of you are aware of the excellent concerts that are staged by the Festival, under the direction of early music expert, Peter Holman (pictured above right with harpsichord and violinist!). Most of the events are held in churches around south Suffolk within easy reach of Sudbury. The main event is the August Bank Holiday Festival, which stretches over four days. Other concerts are held on occasional Sunday evenings during the winter and spring generally at Boxford Church. I have to admit that I am not very good at turning out in the depths of winter for the Christmas event. There is however an excellent concert coming up shortly, featuring the music of William Boyce. This is on May 26^th and we will definitely be attending.

This year the August Festival is entirely comprised of English Music. Among other exciting music, there is to be a semi-staged version of Dido and Aeneas, by Purcell. The world renowned harpsichordist, Gustav Leonhardt, will also be playing. I am very happy to say that on August Bank Holiday Monday Gainsborough’s House is to be the venue for a pre-concert talk by Gainsborough expert Susan Sloman. Following the talk there will be a ‘words and music’ event in Boxford church at noon, focussing on Gainsborough and his musician friends, notably the composer Carl Friedrich Abel (1723 to 1787).

It is not particularly well known that in addition to being a painter, Gainsborough was a keen player of the viol de gamba. As can be seen from the other picture above, Gainsborough painted Abel several times. This picture was painted in 1777

Leaflets about the August concerts will be available around the District later in the year, but if you want details of the May concert, and also to learn the many benefits (such as priority booking and special events) of becoming a Friend of the Festival you should contact

Suffolk Villages Festival.

119 Maldon Road, Colchester CO3 3AX
Telephone: Colchester (01206) 366603
E-mail: info@suffolkvillagesfestival.com