Accademia Strumentale Italiana | Alberto Rasi

Thursday October 22, 2026, at 8:30 PM, the Oratorio San Filippo Neri hosts the concert Splendid Isolation: Dowland, Byrd, and Holborne between dance and polyphony.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, English instrumental music developed a distinctive identity, transforming Italian influences into a personal language. In Splendid Isolation, light dances and refined polyphony coexist, from the works of William Byrd to the famous melancholic Lachrimae by John Dowland, and the inventive pieces of Anthony Holborne.

The program also evokes the spirit of the madrigal, filtered across the Channel through the collection Musica transalpina, and imagines an intimate, conversational chamber music setting. This is the hallmark of the Accademia Strumentale Italiana, founded by viol player Alberto Rasi, here presented in a blend of lute, viols, and violone that restores the richness and grace of a rare repertoire.

Program:

Splendid Isolation: fantasias, pavans, galliards, and allemandes for lute and viols

• Innocentio Alberti Pavin & Galliard
• John Dowland M. Iohn Langtons Pauan
• John Dowland Captaine Digorie Piper his Galiard
• Anthony Holborne The Choice (allemande)
• Anthony Holborne As it Fell on a Holy Eve (galliard)
• John Dowland Lachrimae antiquae
• John Dowland Sir John Souch his Galiard
• Anonymous Pavana
• Anthony Holborne The Teares of the Muses (galliard)
• Anonymous Ronda e La Represa
• John Dowland Forlorn Hope Fancy
• John Dowland Sempre Dowland semper Dolens
• John Dowland The Earle of Essex Galiard
• William Byrd Browning à 5
• Anthony Holborne The Night Watch (allemande)
• Anthony Holborne Muy Linda (galliard)
• John Dowland Lachrimae tristes
• John Dowland M. Nicho Gryffith his Galiard
• Anthony Holborne The Fruit of Love (allemande)
• John Dowland Mrs. Nichols Almand