“Musick’s Recreation:” At-Home Viol-Playing in 17th and 18th Century Massachusetts

We hope you’ll join us at 6pm on Saturday, November 6 or 6pm on Saturday, November 20 at the Sudbury History Center and Museum to experience 17th and 18th century music intended for at-home entertainment in a house built c1730!

About Musick’s Recreation
Building on the music and information presented in our short video, “Home Is Where the Music Is,” this program focuses on a few documented viol players in colonial MA as well as viol players who were left out of historical records. We connect what we can infer about their varied musical experiences to English repertoire publish by John Playford for voice with bass viol accompaniment and for solo viol that was likely present in 17th and early 18th century MA. Since the viol was important to the culture of recreational music making at the time, we are excited to explore at-home music-making through a historic lens and connect our own music-making to a local historical narrative.