The Alehouse Sessions

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Some years ago, I came across Playford’s book of dance tunes – most of these have just a line of melody faintly sketched out. Some four centuries later, the Barokksolistene created the Alehouse Sessions, a project in which they perform folk melodies, sea-shanties, bawdy ballads and cheeky ditties alongside ayres and dances by Purcelland Playford in homage to the sonic world of 17th century tavern music.

These sessions have already been hailed as ‘irresistible’ [The Times], ‘superb’ [The Scotsman] and ‘fabulously unrestrained’ [The Guardian], and they have diverted away from the traditional concert model by ‘creating the effect of a late night jamming session’ [BBC Music Magazine]. A smattering of Purcell, dances from Playford’s Dancing Master, shanties, reels and ballads succumb to a nine-piece ensemble drawing on Baroque, jazz and folk styles for a no holds barred hooley of riotous improvisatory give and take…The result is more gastropub than spit-and-sawdust hostelry, but ‘cheers’ all the same! You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the Queen Elizabeth Hall, so please leave large bags at home.Barokksolistene’s signature project “The Alehouse Sessions”, devised and curated by Bjarte Eike, has been made into a film for television. These “Alehouse Sessions,” in both recorded and live form, are exemplary in their ability to melt the cages of censorship into tenderer weapons of humanity. A portion of the album's repertoire comes to us by way of "The English Dancer," a compendium of country dances from which the band assembles a heady flight that includes the lager of “Wallom Green” and the maltier “The Virgin Queen Set. It shines light onto this tumultuous period through Purcell overtures, English sea shanties and Scandinavian folk songs, thrown in for good measure, brilliantly evoking the atmosphere of a raucous port pub in the 1690s. Commissioned by the BBC and directed by award-winning director Dominic Best (AdLib Productions), the film will be premiered on BBC TV in late April 2023.

That balances of bawdiness and reflections are the group's forte was obvious during their first stateside performance on 11 October 2017 at New York City's SubCulture. Like the “Spanish Set” with which the group encored, during which Eike walked through the crowd with his violin, it was a reminder that listening is an active process. On Sunday 23rd April, BBC Four will broadcast the premiere of the film of Barokksolistene's signature project " The Alehouse Sessions". You can also use the external lift near the Artists' Entrance on Southbank Centre Square to reach Mandela Walk, Level 2. The programme features a lively mix of Handel, Purcell and Rebel plus explorations of a much more adventurous repertoire, including moments of improvisation for which Bjarte and his ensemble have become so renowned.There is a busking verve and jangle pop quality to these arrangements, each a study in dynamism and invigoration. Eike is a charismatic artist with a talent for conceiving imaginative live and recording projects … Innately theatrical, genre bending and suffused with great musicianship and string playing, this is a substantial and fine piece of work. The latter tune is carried magnificently by singer Thomas Guthrie, whose approach to lyric is informed by his own love of theater, and makes its presence felt in a smattering of standalone ditties, elegies, and sea shanties. Here is music that asserts itself as a commodity only of the heart, fermented with just the right amount of personal expression it until it goes down smoothly like a pint ripe for the palate.

The Alehouse Sessions aims to capture the atmosphere and sounds of London at a time where the theatres were closed, due to Oliver Cromwell’s prohibition in the 17th century. Charismatic violinist and director Bjarte Eike and principal members of Barokksolistene, renowned for their Alehouse Sessions, make their LHF debut in this unique collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music.In fact, how we chose our colleagues in the Barokksolistene is as much about their other interests as it is playing baroque music. The Alehouse Sessions – curated and devised by Bjarte Eike – is an ever changing and evolving insight into the music of the English 17th Century tavern. Using their own arrangement of the tunes, these ‘Alehouse Boys’ combine this unique format with humour, an unrivalled virtuosity and flare for improvisation. Venue-provided beer in hand, they shared a toast with the audience before diving into a flow so evocative that “atmospheric” barely does justice to describing its escapist power. First an album from 2017 as well as a series of performances, The Alehouse Sessions has now been turned into a film for television, to be broadcast on BBC Four on 23 April.