Weapons of choice lay out in front of three somber warriors. Lute, harp, recorder, krummhorn (an ancient double-reed instrument) and viola da gamba (an early version of the cello) for the Windsor Hills Consort, all necessary to do battle with Bach and Handel.
Southwestern College's School of Arts and Communication Department of Music got down and funky cranking out Renaissance tunes. The Windsor Hills Consort, featuring Andrew Peterson, Elizabeth Rose and Cathe Sobke, enchanted SWC audience members with sounds of a different time.
For the majority of the evening compositions were played in consort, with the musicians playing the same instrument, while other songs were performed in polyphonic, with different melodies played at once. Overlapping melodies were a little annoying to the ear at first, but the harp's serene plucks steered the "Montet" from the Montpellier Çodex to an angelic tone.
Peterson looked at home sitting behind the harpsichord. His fingers danced over the keys that made a funny-sounding chime when played. Pieces played from the Baroque period were most enthralling. They contained compositions from G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach, G.P. Telemann and William Croft. Doubling the bass line and passing the melody back and forth created a soothing yet melodramatic sound with cheery, fluttering fingers on the recorders.
Lutes (guitar-like stringed instruments) took the audience back to the day of King Henry VIII with the familiar melody of "Greensleeves" by an anonymous composer from the 15th century. With Peterson's recorder taking the lead, Sobke and Rose's lutes gently strummed the melody. It was enjoyable to watch Sobke take her solo as she played with a cheerful spirit.
She introduced each song with bits of history pertaining to each melodic era.
Eager audience members asked about the venerable instruments during tuning breaks that made the already-intimate setting even warmer.
The Windsor Hill Consort played magnificently and breathed life into old sheet music. Bach and Handel never sounded so alive.
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