Spitz Fest #2 - The Masque of Moments

Arriving slightly late due to an erroneous location map I was much more immediately impressed by Shoreditch Church than the venue for Space Between Words at Wilton's Music Hall. Perhaps the grandeur of an ever-so-slightly roughened stone church mixed with the title of the show combined well in my mind.

Ushered in whilst the crowd applauded I was yet again faced with classical music organisational rules. I'm late, I'm not allowed to take a seat in the centre, I take a few seconds to locate a free seat from where I can see the stage, a second too long I fear as I'm reminded to please take a seat. Slightly rushed I park myself behind a large pillar, wide enough to hold the church aloft by itself. Eyes rolling I then wonder if I have checked in under-dressed for this scene. Apparently Shoreditch Church is kind enough to double as a temporary shelter for the homeless during events. Worries of scruffiness are promptly quashed.

It's now I notice the 'no standing during the performance' notice on every stone column. Leaning at forty-five degrees to my right I aquire a cropped panorama of the amazing 17th century instruments which all this time have been producing an authentic, period backing track to my initial concert woes.

Struck at first by the design of the tools in their laps I then tumbled into the mood of the night. I imagined myself a visitor to the kingdom, taken to the market place where peasants and Court officials gathered to sell wares, eat meat wrapped around sticks cooked on large barbeques under earth-coloured, leather tents. A cat finds some rich pickings amongst discarded vegetable leaves and performers entertain the crowd with tales of rich and poor, treasure and gout, knights drinking and peasants in Wapping pissing out fires.

Superb playing of instruments new to me (like the Theorbo, with it's unfeasably long fretboard and massive range) and top-class singing with voices also new to me, a counter tenor's sound is like no other vocal.

Sitting the the gallery through the second set my view was improved tenfold and the acoustic character of the venue revealed it's clarity & wonderful, natural reverb. It's the storytelling & feeling that I most enjoy in English Folk music. Here I was witness to a virtuoso execution of how it was done in the 1600s, with enough feel & ambience to immerse myself in another world.