The Glory of Habsburg - The Queen's Closet

Critically acclaimed Wellington period-instrument orchestra The Queen’s Closet presents a new concert, “The Glory of Habsburg.” The 17th century Habsburg empire was home to some of the most talented and visionary trumpeters of the time, whose innovative compositions shattered the perceived wisdom about the limits of natural trumpet playing.

In this concert, our string section has coaxed our trumpets off the battlefield and sackbuts from the church, to present a lush and vibrant programme of rarely heard music by more and less familiar composers including Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, Philipp Jakob Rittler and Jan Křtitel Tolar.

When this music was first heard, it was fresh and modern. Our mission is to make this music new and contemporary, recreating the joyous spirit of the English Restoration that is the driving force behind The Queen’s Closet. We prefer to perform in spaces where our audiences can eat, drink, mingle with us, and even dance! We always invite our audiences to come and have a look at our instruments, including natural trumpets, natural horns, cornetto, sackbut, hoboy (“baroque oboe”), baroque bassoon, recorders, strings, harpsichord and percussion; and to talk to us about what we do.

The ticket price includes light refreshments, and there will be a cash bar operating.