Piva Performance Programmes

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PIVA

Performance Programmes

By using music, song, original anecdotes and costume, the performances are placed within the popular everyday historical context of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Our shows are always evolving and developing as we research new repertoire.

Heigh Ho Holiday
Presenting Elizabethan popular music capturing the vitality, fun and frivolity of this age.

The programme presents the music that would have been enjoyed by all – whether in court, country house or tavern.

Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush
Looking at the music of the Tudor and Elizabethan period and the influence of the Bassanos, an Italian dynasty of instrument makers and musicians. First brought to England by Henry VIII, successive generations of the family stayed in favour with the royal court throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

To Drive the Cold Winter Away
Piva helps kickstart Christmas with a lively show of music of the season, backed up with seasonal stories and fables. Some of the tunes will be known to todays audiences but Piva washes away the Victorian influence and plays carols and tunes in a style which would have been familiar to someone from the 16th century.

At the Sign of the Crumhorn
Exploring Flemish and French dance music collections of Susato, Attaignant, d’Estree and others, Piva puts the usual ‘twist’ on their innovative arrangements and presentation, making this a lively programme and bringing this music to life for the 21st century.

"Nobody's Jig" - Dances, tunes and songs for Everyman.
Although they absorbed foreign influences, the Elizabethans developed a style of their own when it came to dance music and songs. Music was very much part of the popular consciousness and everyday Elizabethans knew a vast number of songs and tunes. Piva explores popular music of the late 16th century and performs both Continental and English pieces, highlighting how tunes could cross borders.

English Roots Music
Going back to the real roots of English folk music. Piva explores the history of tunes and songs that have come down in the popular consciousness and looks at where well-known folk tunes of today originated. A surprising number of can be traced back to the 16th century, 100 years before Playford. The tradition is older than you think!

Meet the Music Makers - How musical instruments were made and played in the time of Henry & Elizabeth
This fascinating and unique show will take you back to the workshop of a 16th century instrument maker where visitors can find out how woodwind instruments were made and played in Tudor times. Presented from an authentic period tent, visitors will be able to follow the various processes of making an instrument from a solid piece of wood through to the finished article. Find out about the common thread that binds Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, a Silk Moth and the Dark Lady together. And discover the ties between instruments, a small town in Italy and London.

The show is presented by internationally acclaimed instrument maker, Eric Moulder. He and other members of Piva will also be showing how the instruments work, playing some Elizabethan music and giving visitors an entertaining insight into the skills of the past.

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Performance Programmes