About

AUSTIN BAROQUE ORCHESTRA PRESENTS

MUSIQUE POUR LE COUCHER DU ROI

APRIL 30 AT 7:30 PM | FIRST ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH

In addition to ruling a nation, Louis XIV presided over one of Europe's most lavish royal musical establishments, and his taste in music strongly influenced musical tastes across France. Only the best French musicians were members of the musique de chambre, the king's personal, private retinue of musicians who performed for him in his personal chambers. Louis's highly choreographed day was capped off by the coucher, a set of ceremonies that surrounded the king's evening meal and bedtime. The coucher always involved music, and over the years the coucher brought together such illustrious musicians as Lully, Marais, Couperin, and Rebel, who performed their compositions for the music-obsessed Sun King. We'll recapture what a musical evening in Louis's innermost chambers may have been like, presenting music by the king's favorites in sets interspersed with brief readings from diaries written at Versailles during Louis's life. Join us – it'll be très magnifique!

Event Details

• Date: April 30, 2022
• Time: 7:30 PM
• Venue: First English Lutheran Church
• Website: https://austinbaroqueorchestra.org/events/coucher/

Ticket Information

• Cost: $30.00 General Admission | $25.00 Senior | $10.00 Young Adult

Presenter Details

In the midst of its tenth full concert season, the Austin Baroque Orchestra & Chorus seeks to immerse its audiences in the sound world of the past by performing high-quality music from the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries using replicas of period instruments and historically-informed performance techniques. They aim to do so in a way that breaks down longstanding barriers to enjoyment of and access to the fine arts. Musically, this includes thinking outside of the box in terms of repertoire selection, going beyond Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Mozart; toward that end, at least one concert each year is devoted to music by composers from Latin America, music they also regularly present at national and international academic conferences. Organizationally, this is primarily through offering “pay-as-you-are-able” ticketing. We know that all too often financial considerations can serve as a primary barrier preventing access to the arts. Beyond this, these financial barriers too frequently affect communities of color and indigenous communities, so their offering of name-your-price admission can serve a dual purpose, increasing access to performances generally as well as building diversity among the audience and donor base. Through all of these efforts, it is our goal to entertain Central and South Texas audiences while simultaneously educating them about the various ways in which listeners in the past experienced and understood the music they perform some three or four centuries later.

Through innovative and carefully curated programming and thoughtful, approachable program notes, ABO hopes to educate those in Central and South Texas about the music of the Renaissance and the Baroque and Classic eras through an annual season of diverse presentations of orchestral, choral-orchestral, and chamber works. These programs consist of repertoire from Renaissance motets to large-scale Baroque cantatas, and from Classic-era chamber music to larger orchestral works such as symphonies and concerti. A particular specialization for the ensemble is the music of colonial Latin America, repertoire that is performed annually and typically consists of one or more Texas, US, and/or modern world premieres. Preceding each concert is an informal and informative talk about the music led by founder and artistic director, Billy Traylor.

Venue Details