Ensembles
Welcome to the Ensembles page, where the rich tapestry of early and baroque music comes to life through the artistry of Matthew Spring and his collaborations. As a versatile continuo player specialising in the theorbo, lute, and baroque guitar, Matthew has performed across the globe with leading choirs, orchestras, and ensembles. Discover a world where historical scholarship meets dynamic performance artistry.
Theorbo/Lute Continuo
Matthew works as a freelance continuo player of the theorbo, lute and baroque guitar and performs with choirs and orchestras at home and abroad. Pieces he has performed recently include Handel’s Ode to St Cecilia (Guernsey, Padova, Bath), Bach’s St John’s Passion, (Oxford, London); Monteverdi’s Orfeo (Vilnius), Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Oxford) and Vivaldi’s Gloria (Cardiff). Matthew has worked as a theorbo player in the Bath area with the Bath Consort and more recently with young singers at Buckfast Abbey in a concert of Couperin’s Leçon de ténèbre.
Matthew has performed regularly with the soprano Sara Stowe. Together they have researched, performed and recorded an extensive repertoire of Early Music from the medieval to the baroque. Notable recent concerts include ‘Apollo, Orpheus, Midas and Pan. Hearing and mythology in early song.’ (Leicester University Concert series), ‘The Spirit’s Longing – Medieval songs’ (Fitz William College Cambridge), Songs and Solo from the Court of James 1st (Holburne Museum, Bath), ‘Bawds to Bards’ (Guildhall, Stratford) ‘Moors in Spain (Leicester, Phoenix Theatre.) Together they have recorded for Chandos (‘Senhora del Mundo’ Spanish and Portuguese Vihuela Songs’ – Chandos 0546), Classical Communications (`Songs for William Shakespeare’, 2000, ‘Vision of Delight’ Music for the age of Van Dyck’, 1999, CCL CDG1014, `Music at the Court of Charles II’ Music for the Royal Portrait Gallery Exhibition 2001, CCL 816), and for the BBC Magazine (Martin Codax). Click here to view Stowe and Spring.
Sirinu is a four/five piece ensemble that concentrates on the music from the medieval to the renaissance, but also performs modern pieces and music from non-western genres. Since forming in 1992 Sirinu has given over 300 concerts, including three Early Music Network Tours (1992, 1994 and a 1996 education tour), and British Council Tours of South America, Asia, Northern Africa, and Macedonia. Well-known in their own right as individual performers and musicologists Sirinu’s members are Sara Stowe, Matthew Spring, Jon Banks and Kira Thomas, joined by other musicians for larger projects. They have made numerous recordings for the BBC recordings, including a highly-acclaimed series ‘The Road to Toledo’ for Radio 3, and CDs for Hyperion and Chandos. Sirinu has provided music for film sound tracks for Ardmann and Walt Disney. The group has appeared at many European Early Music Festivals and has a repertory of a dozen programmes at any one time. Their concerts have been described as `A tour de force of sound, colour, movement and dance…’ and `a brilliant synthesis of scholarship, musicianship, vivacity of performance.’ Click here to view Sirinu.
The acclaimed musicians of the ensemble Galliarda specialise in the performance of instrumental and vocal chamber music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These international artists perform baroque sonatas, trios, and cantatas for recorder, harpsichord, viol, hurdy-gurdy and plucked instruments. The musicologist and flutist/recorder player Wendy Hancock formed the group. With several successful nationwide Making Music tours (2013-15) and appearances on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ the group established a reputation for innovative and well-communicated baroque music concerts. Since Wendy’s sad death in 2016, the group has kept going with the inclusion of new members. Galliarda has now re-launching itself with the addition of the young wind player Kate Allsop. Galliarda received support from the Continuo Foundation with their ‘An Enlightened Heart’ project on music by female composers of the eighteenth century. They released their recorded music on the Tremula label in March 2023. Click here to view Galliarda.