A CONCERT of early music played by award winning Partita, a five piece ensemble, held at Trinity Church, Sale Moor, last week, raised the sum of £300 for the Air Ambulance Service.

They used ancient instruments such as a sinfonye and psaltery to perform 15th and 16th century music.

Stretford resident, Roger Child, 65, their leader and arranger referred to another, equally important instrument, the human voice.

He said:  “Our singers are Sacha Johnson Manning from Altrincham and Holly Marland.

“They are perfectly suited to the period.   The style requires pure, clear voices.”

The harpist is Margaret Walker from Altrincham and the fifth member, Jill Lingard, plays the harpsichord.

Roger proudly displayed two replicas of original instruments,   hand made by specialist makers.  

One was a theorbo, a long necked lute common in the sixteenth century.   The other was a beautifully carved baroque guitar, the forerunner of today’s popular instrument.  He plays both.

He said:  “The fun is discovering ancient music.   We have found 
one piece that was performed for Louis XIV, known as the Sun King. 

“It was played early in the morning as the sun was rising.  We even know the date.”

“I have grown to love the French repertoire from that time.  We did some at the recent concert.

“It is amazing that we are performing  pieces familiar to Queen Elizabeth I.”

“We are a lovely mixture and all get on well.   We are like a musical family.”

*  To book a concert, go to partita.co.uk.