Restoration Company
Presenting the Crown Jewels
of the English Baroque
1650 - 1750
Will Wroth, artistic coordinator
The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 sparked an explosion of cultural activity in England, and ushered in a potent century that produced some of the most sublime sacred music ever written, a large body of magnificent courtly composition, and a rich school of theatrical music. Dearly loved by the public, this repertoire needs special attention to reveal its unique charm, passion, devotion, and energy.
Restoration Company is an ensemble of The Netherlands' leading early-music specialists, dedicated solely to English music from the era that encompassed Purcell and Handel. Cohesion between the musical aspects and the historical, literary and cultural elements surrounding the repertoire is one of the defining characteristics of the group.
The core ensemble consists of an orchestra of ten and a chamber choir of eight, drawn from the country's best specialist choral singers. They also perform the vocal solos when appropriate – for decades the historical practice – in the clear, refined and moving English manner that best suits the works.
The group's size and flexibility enables Restoration Company to present music from the three principal musical arenas of the time: the Court, the Church and the Theatre. The magnificent royal odes of Purcell and Blow, chamber music from a variety of court composers, the glorious Purcell, Blow, Humfrey and Handel anthems with strings, the captivating incidental music to Restoration plays (including baroque dance), as well as the larger semi-operas themselves, are all available as concert programmes for churches, and concert-halls with suitable acoustics.
English music of this period has its own rhetorical character and a uniquely pictorial connection between words and music. Restoration Company works with the special interpretive approach the repertoire requires and is able to present a broad variety of concerts, entertainments, stage-shows, and church programmes of a quality, content and style that goes beyond what audiences have come to expect and accept from this wonderful music.