Evocative Performances on
Period Instruments
Shared music of early times brings us to a meeting of minds surpassing that possible by words alone, and allows a communication with the past unlike any other. Elizabethan Conversation combines scholarship in historical performance with individual judgment, and mixes in the magic of the moment. Started in 1982 as a renaissance lute duet by Susan Sandman and Derwood Crocker, Elizabethan Conversation now performs diverse programs with guest performers.
Dr. Susan Sandman is an early music performer and musicologist who lived in Aurora for 30 years and was professor of music at Wells College. She is glad to be in Brooklyn, playing period instruments and doing art. Contact: Susan.sandman@gmail.com.
Sample Programs
The concerts feature period instruments, notes on the music and instruments, and a chance to speak with the artists afterwards. Pleasing and exciting performances add flavor to many occasions. Here are our current programs.
A MUSICAL EUROPEAN HOLIDAY
Baroque music for recorders, viola da gamba, and harpsichord takes us on an European holiday. Through the music, we visit Italy (Marcello), Belgium (JB Loeillet), Germany (Bach), Spain (Diego Ortiz) and France (Marais, Dieupart).
VARIETIES OF MUSIK
Performances of fantasies and dances on recorders and violas da gamba of both Renaissance and baroque design with spoken program notes. The “Conversation” is a guide so the audience can delight in subtle distinctions of sonority and form.
“Professor Sandman’s presentation during the opening reception for the (Johnson) Museum’s reinstalled European galleries was the perfect accompaniment to the event. Scholarly and yet accessible, her concert combined engaging performances of early music for lute, viola da gamba, and recorder with fascinating information about instrument construction and performance practice, and an opportunity for audience members to ask questions and see the instruments up close.” Andrew C. Weislogel, Curator of European Art before 1800
Listen: Performances by Elizabethan Conversation
A lute duet (Sandman, Crocker) Tower Hill
Medieval recorder and symphonia (Sandman, Crocker) Estampie
Fiddle, lute and drum (Sandman, Raykov, Crocker) Nigun Bialik
House Concerts
Music for a gala or special evening at home. “A wonderful and intimate performance with a mix of quality musicianship and historical context.” Guest, 12/10/16
Special Occasion Programs
To suit individual needs. Click here to contact us about a performance.