Following in the Footsteps of Those Who Went Before Us
Pastimes Early Music Ensemble...
is a group of musicians who perform early music on period instruments. We had been playing together for a few years before forming in 1995 the ensemble known as Pastimes. Thereafter we began receiving requests to play at private parties, weddings, costume dinners and outdoor fairs, business functions, school assemblies, and occasionally in church settings. We play medieval and renaissance music from the late 1100s to the mid 1600s, ranging from formal courtly and liturgical music to refined or rustic domestic entertainment. Over the years we have expanded our instrumentarium greatly, amassing a sizable collection of period instruments: recorders, Krummhorns, loud reeds & brass, bowed and plucked strings and some peculiar bagpipes, hurdy gurdies and other oddities. We expanded our activities beyond music performance to teaching courtly & rustic dances of the period and to presenting stories with shadow puppets. We take our ensemble name from a song attributed to Henry VIII called 'Pastime with Good Company'. Our goal is to provide as much fun for those who hear us as we ourselves are having, and we do aim to have a good time! Our home base is in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northern Delaware. We have performed on the East Coast from Virginia to New England, as well as in Europe.
Pastimes II
After about 5 years of intense working together and expansion to a 8 member ensemble, some Pastimers were no longer able to devote so much time to preparation and performance. Growing families and changing full time jobs and careers meant that the larger ensemble would not always be available for performances. We still rejoice in playing together a few times each year when possible, and when the occasion calls for a larger ensemble. At about the same time, opportunities arose to play yearly in Europe for various events. Thus, a more flexible duo version expeditionary force, Pastimes II, was born, making it much easier to coordinate schedules and commitments, and providing most of the instrumental diversity of the larger group, with a wee bit less fire power.