Polyphonische Begegnungen – Polyphonic Encounters IV
The Phantasm Viol Consort launched its own concert series in March 2025 at St Elisabeth Church in Berlin-Mitte. A total of four concerts are devoted entirely to polyphony, each focusing on a composer who was particularly distinguished in this compositional technique. In the fourth and final concert of the series, Phantasm presents five- and six-part consorts by the relatively little-known composer William Lawes (1602–1645).
Following the concert, guests are invited to a reception at the bar!
“No matter how much one engages with historical models and sources, nothing prepares you for the originality and daring of William Lawes’s consort pieces,” says Laurence Dreyfus, founder and musical director of Phantasm. A foretaste is offered by the ensemble’s two Lawes recordings from 2001 and 2002:
“Connoisseurs of consort playing can’t help but be struck by the greater impact of the music from Dreyfus and his colleagues: Phantasm is truly in a class of its own.” (Gramophone Magazin, 2002)
“The viol players of Phantasm succeed in creating an impression of ceaseless new melodies and new beginnings, and the result never stops seducing the ear.”
(Diapason, 2000)
POLYPHONISCHE BEGEGNUNGEN – POLYPHONIC ENCOUNTER
Concert IV – William Laws, Exceptional Eccentric
Five- and Six-Part Consorts
Sunday, 8 March 2026, 5:00 p.m. St. Elisabeth
Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol and musical leader / Emilia Benjamin, treble viol / Jonathan Manson, tenor viol / Heidi Gröger, tenor viol / Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol / Martin Jantzen, bass viol
