Murder Ballades and Dances

We travel back to the English 16th-17th century pub, to a time when national matron Cromwell had shut down the country's music scenes. It was forbidden to make money playing music, and thus the pub became an alternative cultural centre. Here people met to play, sing and share stories — and in these places the folk music and the composed music must have had a wonderful meeting place too.

Then as now, people loved a good story! Morbid and tragic narratives stood high in course, both in folk and art music. Intense narratives of murder were heard in the traditional Murder Ballads, and insanity was the theme of the many “Mad Songs” written at the time. Henry Purcell's “Mad Bess of Bedlam” describes a woman who lived in the mental hospital “Bedlam.” A trip to Bedlam to see the sick, and gladly torment them, was one of the attractions of the time in London.

In this concert performance, the audience gets to experience MadSongs, Murder Ballads, prison songs, traditional Irish jigs and reels, and dance music by Purcell. The pub atmosphere we partner with Mack on: The bar is open!