Fretwork: Take Five – Viol Consort (Playhouse, Sheffield)

A playful and imaginative evening with the world’s leading viol consort

After more than a decade away from the city, the celebrated Fretwork return to Sheffield with Take Five, a richly inventive programme performed at the Playhouse.

For nearly 40 years, Fretwork have been recognised as the world’s leading viol consort, renowned for combining deep scholarship with curiosity, humour, and bold musical imagination. This concert offers a rare chance to hear them up close in an intimate setting.

The programme

Take Five weaves together Renaissance masterworks, Baroque elegance, modern classics, and unexpected contemporary arrangements — all centred around music written in five parts or reimagined for the viol consort.

Highlights include:

• Johann Sebastian Bach – Pièce d’Orgue, BWV 572

• Orlando Gibbons – Two In Nomines in five parts

• Claude Debussy – La fille aux cheveux de lin

• Henry Purcell – Fantazia Upon One Note

• Works by William Byrd, Thomas Weelkes, John Taverner and Christopher Tye

• Arvo Pärt – Fratres

• A striking contemporary arrangement of Running Up That Hill, arranged by one of Britain’s leading modern composers

The result is a concert that moves effortlessly from early music to the present day — thoughtful, surprising, and deeply engaging.

Why this concert stands out

• A rare Sheffield appearance by an internationally renowned ensemble

• A programme blending historic viol repertoire with bold modern arrangements

• An intimate Playhouse setting that brings audiences close to the music

Booking offers

This concert is part of the Music in the Round Sheffield series:

• Save 20% when booking 10 or more concerts in one transaction

• Save 10% when booking 5 or more concerts in one transaction

🎟 Tickets & full details:
https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/fretwork-take-five