The alehouse sessions is flexible and can be presented in many different forms and settings. It can be an enlightenment project, a music-theatre, an improvised happening, a show or an educational event – I see it is an organic, living organism that never stands still. This diversion from the traditional concert model is what is at the heart of the Sessions. Through the medium of these well-loved tunes, a story of the period is interwoven into the music making; creating a unique environment between audience and performer. These sessions have already been hailed as ‘irresistible’ The Times, ‘superb’ The Scotsman and ‘fabulously unrestrained’ The Guardian, and they have diverted away from the traditional concert model by ‘creating the effect of a late night jamming session’ BBC Music Magazine. From Alehouse to Playhouse Bjarte Eike and his barnstorming Barokksolistene capture the vital spark of Restoration London’s entertainment scene with a captivating new recording for Rubicon Classics! The Playhouse Sessions will be released on 23 September 2022 to coincide with Barokksolistene’s concert double-bill at London’s Southbank Centre. By 1630 there were registered more than 30.000 alehouses, 2000 Inns and 400 taverns in England and Wales.

In fact, these musical gatherings became so popular, that Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, in 1657, sent out a new decree “against vagrants and wandering idle dissolute persons…commonly called fiddlers or minstrels”, who were warned that if at any time they were “taken fiddeling, and making music, in any inn, alehouse or tavern.. or intreating any person to hear them play or make music in any of these places” they were to be adjudged “rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggars, and proceeded against and punished accordingly”. For access to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating rows A to C and wheelchair spaces in the Front Stalls, please enter via the Artists' Entrance in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road (Level 1).

I see the alehouse sessions more as a creative room that I keep refurbishing, rather than a fixed project or concept. It started as a fun, clever musical idea – fitting a festival with an English theme – but has now become something more profound; it’s all about the individuals that contribute on stage, with everyone being outstanding soloists and team-players, and how we have all invested ourselves in the project. For step-free access from the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road off Belvedere Road to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating (excluding rows A to C) and wheelchair spaces in the Rear Stalls, plus Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer and the Purcell Room, please use the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance. It must have been an incredible atmosphere in these places – overflowing with music, alcohol, sex, gossip, fights, fumes, shouting, singing, laughing, dancing… not unlike our live versions of the Alehouse Sessions.

In this exclusive video clip to The Strad,Norwegian violinist and the Barokksolistene perform Wallom Green from The Alehouse Sessions. First an album from 2017 as well as a series of performances, The Alehouse Sessionshas now been turned into a film for television, to be broadcast on BBC Four on 23 April. So how did it all start? The initial impetus came from creating a series of informal concerts for a festival in Norway. Prior to that, I had already dabbled in folk and pop bands as a teenager and student. When I studied in Bergen, my band and I also briefly worked for Guinness when they ceremoniously opened new taps in Norwegian pubs in the early 90s. These sessions have already been hailed as ‘irresistible’ [The Times], ‘superb’ [The Scotsman] and ‘fabulously unrestrained’ [The Guardian], and they have diverted away from the traditional concert model by ‘creating the effect of a late night jamming session’ [BBC Music Magazine]. It was this idea which acted as the catalyst for creating the Alehouse Sessions, which has now caught the keen eye of filmmaker Dominic Best, who will be bringing us to your screens on BBC4 on Sunday 23 April. The pub has since the earliest of times been the English people’s second home. The establishments can be divided into three categories: the inns, taverns and alehouses (later known as public houses). In these establishments one would meet to eat, drink, and sleep, but, especially after 1660, one would also hold political meetings, feasts, balls, concerts, gambling events, flower shows etc .. and of course, these houses were the main venues for the extreme consumption of alcohol in the 17th century¹. Samuel Pepys is also notoriously known for his fondness of alcohol. In his diaries, he’s listing all kinds of favourite drinks like ale, cider, beer, brandy, all sorts of wines and mixed drinks like posset, butter beer, hippocras etc².Speaking on the project, Bjarte Eike said: “The signature of this project is the interaction on stage between the players and the audience. Using their own arrangement of the tunes, these ‘Alehouse Boys’ combine this unique format with humor, an unrivalled virtuosity and flare for improvisation. Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike and his Barokksolistene have restored the spirit and substance of those long-forgotten performances with their Alehouse Sessions, hailed by The Times as ‘irresistible’ and ‘fabulously unrestrained’ by The Guardian. Five years ago the Norwegian violinist and his band scored a best-selling album with The Alehouse Sessions on Rubicon Classics. They return to the label with another compelling collection of music and words of the kind on offer more than three centuries ago at Henry Purcell’s favourite Westminster watering holes. The Playhouse Sessions, set for release on Rubicon Classics on 23 September 2022, reflects the uplifting energy and engaging emotional contrasts of Barokksolistene’s Alehouse performances. What strikes me, is that despite the authorities attempts to censor, prohibit and control the music-making, the music and artists survived, prevailed, adapted and transformed. Barokksolistene’s Alehouse Sessions

The Alehouse Sessions – curated and devised by Bjarte Eike – is an ever changing and evolving insight into the music of the English 17th Century tavern. It gives audiences a window into this tumultuous period through Purcell overtures, English sea shanties, and Scandinavian folk songs thrown in for good measure. one place in Berkshire, England it has been recorded that between 1611 and 1618 an average of 6 to 8 pints of beer were consumed per person – every dayEveryone that has been involved in the project throughout the years, has experienced musical and personal developments through the way we work and test ideas. We have initiated our own workshops where we gather in some remote place and work with improvisation, choir singing, rhythmical exercises, dancing and, most importantly, strengthening the friendship through cooking, drinking and gossiping.

This diversion from the traditional concert model is what is at the heart of the Sessions. Through the medium of these well-loved tunes, a story of the period is interwoven into the music making; creating a unique environment between audience and performer. Bjarte Eike goes into detail about what makes this special:Before classical music became real art music and the composer had all the power, artistic freedom was a lot higher for performers. Musicians were expected to demonstrate improvisational and ornamental skills throughout the medieval, renaissance and baroque periods, but the amount of improvisation and the way in which they responded to the audience would depend on the occasion. For example, there would be a certain amount of ornamentation within the Gloria sung at church, but not any adaptation based on the audience’s response. In a tavern or on the streets, the artistic freedom would naturally be a lot higher as the musicians would be free to respond and change to whatever audience might be at hand. Even if the music, the stories and the dances get their inspiration from historical events, the project has now developed into being the essence of what the Barokksolistene’s operation aims to be – a creative energy center, where powerful, virtuosic individuals meet to create something unique, time-less, actual and genre-breaking – something that resonates with a modern and diverse audience. Some went to the country-side serving as light entertainment for the aristocracy and tutoring their children, some joined the military³ and some church musicians stayed in London to become teachers. Shakespeare refers to the poor level of catch singing in many of his plays, like in “Twelfth Night” where Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and the clown Feste are singing the catch “Hold thy peace”, where, being disturbed from sleep by their “performance”, Malvolio exclaims: