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Last night I went to a concert at the Sorbonne given by the Sorbonne Scholars, a university society that recreates the music of 16th and 17th Century England (vraiment on trouve de tout à Paris…). It was my first visit to the Sorbonne, and the concert was held in the rather magnificent Amphithéâtre Richelieu.

The concert was a hommage to Henry Purcell, probably England’s foremost Baroque composer, and a particular highlight was a couple of “catches” – rounds written for male voices with popular and occasionally profane lyrics. Here’s one called Julia:

(Yes, you heard the words correctly. Once the Puritans left for America, life in 17th Century England was AWESOME. Apart from the plagues. And the fires. And the wars.)

The catch Sir Walter Raleigh is lyrically far more explicit than Julia, and you can watch and listen to it here.

Of course, Purcell’s more spiritual music was featured heavily, including this Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis with a rather lively Nunc Dimittis section (more recent composers tend to use slower tempos for the Nunc Dimittis, which after all are the words of a dying old man).

The only drawback to the evening was the rather cramped and hard seats in the amphithéâtre. The room is an interesting architectural setting for early music, but the rather antiquated seating was designed evidently for 18th century students less than 5 foot 4 tall, (or hobbits) and it took all of the length of my walk to the metro station afterwards to uncoil myself…