Spirit of Gambo

In 2021 Dutch viol ensemble Spirit of Gambo gave the first concert promoted by West Cork Music after the Covid lockdown. Exactly two years later, on Sunday 22nd October 2023 they return to Bantry with the first concert in their three-venue Irish tour.

Their programme celebrates the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, and the legacy of Archbishop Narcissus Marsh’s unique manuscript collection of music for the viola da gamba still held in Marsh’s Library, Dublin.

The remarkable flowering of English music for consorts of up to six viols began with the English high renaissance of the Tudors and continued through the Stuart Restoration of the seventeenth century. King Charles 1st was an avid performer and the programme also includes music by his teacher William Lawes and by other great exponents of the form including Henry Purcell, John Jenkins, Matthew Locke and Orlando Gibbons.