Name: Barokkbandið Brák & Cantoque Ensemble: Opnunartónleikar | Opening concert
Start: 2026-03-31T19:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-31T21:00:00+00:00
Location: Harpa tónlistar- og ráðstefnuhús / Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre

$Barokkbandi\u00f0 Br\u00e1k & Cantoque Ensemble: Opnunart\u00f3nleikar | Opening concert$

- English below -
Verið velkomin á opnunartónleika Reykjavík Early Music Festival árið 2026. Barokkbandið Brák og kórinn Cantoque Ensemble taka höndum saman á ný og flytja verk eftir Avison og Händel í bland við íslensk þjóðlög.
Fyrst hljómar Concerto grosso eftir Englendinginn Charles Avison (1709–1770) sem hann byggði á sónötu fyrir hljómborð eftir Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757). Þá verður spunnið um íslensk þjóðlög þar sem baðstofan mætir barokkinu. Loks verður flutt tónsetning Georgs Friedrichs Händels (1685–1759) á 110. Davíðssálmi, Dixit Dominus, sem hann samdi liðlega tvítugur þegar hann dvaldi á Ítalíu og varð svo ofurvinsæll meðal þarlendra fyrir verk sín að hann varð nefndur ‘il caro Sassone’ — Þjóðverjinn þokkafulli.
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Opening concert: Baroque ensemble Brák and choir Cantoque Ensemble
Welcome to the opening concert of the Reykjavík Early Music Festival 2026. The baroque ensemble Brák and the choir Cantoque Ensemble join forces once again to perform works by Avison and Handel, interwoven with Icelandic folk songs.
The concert opens with a Concerto grosso by the English composer Charles Avison (1709–1770), which he based on a keyboard sonata by Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757). This is followed by variations on Icelandic folk songs, marrying turf houses and toccatas. The final work on the program is George Frideric Handel’s (1685–1759) setting of Psalm 110, Dixit Dominus, which he composed in his early twenties while staying in Italy, where he became so wildly popular for his works that he was dubbed il caro Sassone — “the dear Saxon.”