Masters of the Polyphony

William Byrd declared him a “musical genius”. Nearly 400 years later, Glenn Gould would write how his music moved him “more deeply than any other sound experience” he could think of. The composer in question is Orlando Gibbons. Regarded as one of the last representatives of the English school of polyphony, Gibbons composed his relatively slim but exceptionally versatile oeuvre during the transitional period between the Elizabethan era and the Baroque. On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Gibbons’ death in 2025, the Phantasm Viol Consort has developed several programs that present his rarely performed works to German audiences, alongside pieces by some of his contemporaries.

In March 2025, Phantasm launched the concert series POLYPHONIC ENCOUNTERS at the St. Elisabeth Church in Berlin-Mitte: four concerts dedicated entirely to polyphony, each highlighting a composer particularly renowned for this compositional technique. In the third concert of the series, the ensemble celebrates one of Britain’s most famous composers: Henry Purcell (1659–1695), known as the Orpheus Britannicus. Following the concert, Phantasm invites guests to their traditional reception at the bar followed by a book launch: Jean-Claude Kuner will introduce the original English version of the 2022 novel Parsifal’s Seduction by Laurence Dreyfus, founder and director of Phantasm. The book will be published in December 2025 by Wolke Verlag.

27 December 2025, Wigmore Hall
A COMPLETE ENGLISH CHEST Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol & artistic director / Emilia Benjamin, treble viol / Jonathan Manson, tenor viol / Heidi Gröger, tenor viol / Christopher Terepin, bass viol / Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol Works by O. Gibbons, J. Ward, T. Tomkins & W. Lawes

28 December 2025, Klassik im Alten Kloster, Bad Saulgau / 29 December 2025, Kirchensaal der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde, Köngsfeld im Schwarzwald GIBBONS ANNIVERSARY
Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol & artistic director / Emilia Benjamin, treble viol / Jonathan Manson, tenor viol / Heidi Gröger, tenor viol / Martin Jantzen, bass viol / Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol Works by O. Gibbons, T. Tomkins & J. S. Bach

11 January 2026, St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Berlin
HENRY PURCELL, PROPHETIC PATHFINDER Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol and director / Emilia Benjamin, treble viol / Jonathan Manson, tenor viol / Heidi Gröger, tenor and treble viols / Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol Guests: Ulrich Wolff, bass viol / Lea Rahel Bader, bass viol / Jean-Claude Kuner, book presentation Works by H. Purcell / book launch: Parsifal’s Seduction by Laurence Dreyfus