MouseEar Concerts

In Sonnet 128, Shakespeare expresses his envy of the jacks in his beloved’s harpsichord, “the wood whose motion sounds with [her] sweet fingers.” On 2-3 June, the “saucy jacks” mentioned in Shakespeare’s sonnet will be those in a copy of the harpsichord part of Lodewijk Theeuwes’s 1579 claviorganum, and the “sweet fingers" will belong to harpsichordist Bertrand Cuiller, who will perform works of the English virginalists (Byrd, Bull, Phillips, et al.). The Bard will be there, too: some of his poems will be presented by performance Jord Homan in original pronunciation – the manner in which Elizabethan English was thought to have been spoken – as well as works by his coevals John Donne, Ben Jonson, et al. This unforgettable event takes place on 2 June at 20h00 at the Zeeuwse Concertzaal in Middelburg and on 3 June at 20h30 at De Waag in Den Haag. Tickets are available through our website:

2 June: ​​https://tickets.de-drvkkery.nl/nl-NL/Show/Details/Bertrand-Cuillier-en-Jord-Homan-2-jun-38305
3 June: https://www.ticketkantoor.nl/shop/acleareday

What better way to escape the winter chill than to enjoy the warmth of chamber music? On 26 and 27 November, Josh Cheatham and Skip Sempé will present a programme of French works for viola da gamba and harpsichord at the Singelkerk in Amsterdam and the Akerendam estate in Beverwijk. In addition to works by Marais, Forqueray and Louis Couperin, among others, plenty of cosiness will be on offer. Tickets available through the MouseEar website: https://www.mouseearconcerts.com/agenda