Brook Street Band: The Sense of Hearing

The Brook Street Band return to the Museum for a special evening concert, taking as their inspiration a 1740s painting of four female musicians by Philippe Mercier.

The eighteenth-century painter Philippe Mercier is justly celebrated for his beautiful portraits of English society, including Royalty. He often painted social gatherings of families and friends in more intimate and domestic settings, including playing musical instruments. The Brook Street Band takes Mercier’s The Sense of Hearing, his 1740s portrait of four female musicians, as the starting point for a musical exploration of the sound-worlds that these musicians would have known in England, through popular adopted ‘English’ composers of the day including Handel and Geminiani, and their European colleagues Bach and Telemann.

Since its formation in 1996 by baroque cellist Tatty Theo, the award-winning Brook Street Band has established itself as one of the country’s foremost interpreters of Handel’s music. The name comes from the street in London’s Mayfair where George Frideric Handel lived and composed for most of his working life. The band is made up of Lisete da Silva Bull (baroque flute), Kathryn Parry (baroque violin), Tatty Theo (baroque cello) and Carolyn Gibley (harpsichord). They have performed and taught extensively at prestigious British and European Festivals, and regular UK concert venues include Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square.

In partnership with Handel Hendrix