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​Ensemble photography by Paula Lobo © 2018 and Teju Cole © 2016
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Sonnambula's first CD, "Leonora Duarte (1610–1678): The Complete Works," was released on JUNE 7 (2019; Centaur Records). The first complete recording of Duarte's seven Sinfonias (rec. 2016), and the first record for us, it's a tremendous honor to bring the works to life. The disc features a spoken essay by Teju Cole and is artfully mastered by Marlan Barry. Here is a preview track:
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RECENT PRESS
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Image © The New Yorker. Illustration by Cristiana Couceiro.

Alex Ross's beautiful meditation on our Duarte concert with Teju Cole at The Cloisters — from the February 18/25, 2019 issue of The New Yorker​:

"The absence of historical celebrities hardly hurt attendance... It’s tempting to describe the Sinfonias as jewel-like in construction. You could also compare them to Vermeer’s paintings, small in scale and infinite in depth... For a remarkable hour on a cold February night, their world came alive again."


​
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RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
2018–2019 Ensemble-in-Residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

​View the Met Season.
Photos of Sonnambula at The Cloisters are by Paula Lobo for The Metropolitan Museum of Art

​Sonnambula performs rare old music written for the viola da gamba (viol) and similar instruments.

Those of us who grew up playing music are likely more familiar with what music historians call "violin family" instruments—violins, violas, and cellos—in a modern setup, with innovations that have evolved over the last two hundred years to fill modern concert halls with sound: steel strings, end pins, chin rests, and modern bows.

Viols possess none of these artifacts of industrialization. Their delicate bodies are made with thin slabs of wood, strung with gut strings and frets, and are played da gamba, or 'on the leg'. In short, these instruments are meant for the court, for the domestic interior, and for the cultivation of a quiet beauty, the sort of which is difficult to come by in today's loud and fast-paced world.
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2017–2018 highlights

WOMEN'S VOICES

Élisabeth Jacquet
​de La Guerre (1665–1729)
: Musician in Paris


Hear some spots on Performance Today,
​and read a review.

​

LEARN MORE


​Marianna Martínes
​(1744–1812): Classical Composer in Vienna
LEARN MORE
Marianna Martines: Overture ("Sinfonia") in C Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento in D Maj; K 136
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F Minor; Hob 1:49
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Live at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Audience looks on at The Hispanic Society of America, New York City
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  • Home
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Our Instruments
    • Leonora Duarte CD
  • Musicians
    • Ensemble
    • Collaborators
  • Concerts
    • 2020-2021: In Music's Time
    • 2019-2020: Explorations
    • 2018–2019: MET Residency
    • 2017–2018: Women's Voices
    • Archives >
      • Older Archives
  • Outreach
  • Videos
  • SpectrumHP
  • Press
  • Donate