April 2012: ‘Lost and Found’ Vivaldi, Handel and debut of Harvey Brough’s ‘A Particulare Care’
With thanks to Harvey Brough for this recording.
“The title of our concert, Lost & Found, and the decision to focusour fundraising efforts on families and children finds its rootsin tonight’s music and its connections to two extraordinary orphanages, the Pio Ospedale della Pietà in Venice and the
Foundling Hospital in London.
The Pietà was established in the 14th century and developed atradition of providing musical training to its girl orphans, whileboys were taught a trade. By the time Antonio Vivaldi arrived as a violin teacher in 1703, the Pietà’s all-female orchestra
and choir had an exceptional reputation. Vivaldi composed music for the women of the Pietà during his long tenure there, including several works to challenge the considerable skills of their virtuosi.
Thomas Coram, a retired sailor sickened by the sight of dying children in London’s streets, established the Foundling Hospital in 1739. The Hospital soon attracted its most famous patron, George Friderick Handel. A devoted philanthropist, Handel staged many benefit concerts for the Hospital, the first of which featured the Ode to St. Cecelia and the Foundling Hospital Anthem.
Earlier this year, Vox Holloway’s patron, Harvey Brough, was inspired to write his own anthem following a visit to the Foundling Hospital, now the Foundling Museum. That anthem receives its premiere tonight, just as Handel’s Anthem did over 250 years ago in a similar effort to improve the lives of children.” From the programme notes.
Vox Holloway 