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The Frolick

We currently have the following programmes available to suit your venue or occasion.

  The Frolick The Frolick with Calliope (5 to 8 musicians)
In London in the 1740s, a time when society prized illusion and intrigue above all, subverting the accepted sexual system was fair game. Men with high voices ruled the stage, and cross-dressing abounded for comic affect or for survival. Londoner’s have not changed so much in three-hundred years. Songs are still about the same things: Girls that are just after money; others searching for real love; a guy who wants to get a date; and even the best friend that wants to take him out to drown his sorrows. Poetry and fantasy combine with the luminous colours of original baroque instruments to create an opulent adventure in 18th-century expression.
  Queen Anne of Denmark

The Queen's Delight (5 musicians)
Originally commissioned by The Middle Temple to celebrate their 400th Anniversary, this programme marks the turn of English entertainment from a male dominated world to one where woman reigned.In 1608 Queen Anne of Denmark, consort of King James I and IV, commissioned Ben Johnson and Alfonso Ferrabosco to write the words and music of sparkling new masques displaying the Beauties of the court, followed in 1616 by the beautiful music and masques by Lawes, Lanier and John Dowland for Charles I.

  Corelli 2 Ceilidh (5 to 7 musicians)
In Handel's time, when English songs were being written to the tunes of the Italian masters, and British songwriters wrote for the theatres, when songbooks first became available for home entertainment, Irish, Scots and Welsh folk music were also highly popular. In Corelli 2 Ceilidh The Frolick weaves together the popular music of the operas and theatre of London in the early 1700s with the folk music of the time in a journey of high baroque fashion to foot-stomping improvised folk, all on original instruments with gut-strings and only slightly stretching the rules.
  The Frolick Frolick, Medley & Folly (7 to 9 musicians)
As was done in the 20th-century with "Hooked on Classics" and Christmas medleys, so 18th-century composers created medleys of tunes that were popular in baroque London. We will introduce you to the music of London in the 1730s as we guide you through the tunes that make up one of the era's finest medley overtures, including music by Handel, Carey, Lampe, Pepusch and Geminiani, as well as a little traditional folk.

  The Frolick Trio The Frolick with Calliope Cabaret (3 musicians)
Trio with Emma Curtis, Andrew Maginley and Jim O'Toole

The songbook Calliope contains over 300 songs by numerous composers. The Frolick Trio concentrates on those songs more suited to an intimate ensemble: from theatre songs by Purcell and Eccles, tunes by Handel and Geminiani, to the stunning melancholic art songs of Lampe and the jolly and often mischevious pop songs of Carey.

Pre- or post-performance talks or workshops by members of The Frolick are available to accompany any concert.