Nova Atlantis
- Travel to Utopia

Music by William Byrd, John Coprario, John Wilbye, Thomas Tomkins et al. Texts from Francis Bacon’s „New Atlantis“ (1627)
and Marge Piercy’s „Woman on the Edge of Time” (1976)

With ‘Nova Atlantis - Travel to Utopia’, astrophil & stella embarks on two journeys - to the fantastic island of ‘New Atlantis’ by Francis Bacon, whose unfinished utopian novel was published in 1627 - and into the future: to Marge Piercy's vision of a thoroughly just society in her novel ‘Woman on the Edge of Time’ (1976).

This journey is staged with the help of stirring music by Bacon's contemporaries William Byrd, John Coprario, Thomas Tomkins and Orlando Gibbons, whose compositions are characterised by socially critical undertones. A rich array of period instruments including strings, organ, harp, trombone, traverso and singers create a fascinating soundscape of the late Renaissance, complemented by text readings from Bacon's and Piercy's novels.

- Visions of utopian societies have fascinated writers since ancient times. Plato already sketched out ideas for a fairer state and Thomas More's ‘Utopia’ (1516), which was to be followed by numerous other utopian and dystopian novels, gave the genre its name. Francis Bacon's ‘New Atlantis’, although written in the early 17th century, astounds with its ideas of future technology in harmony with nature. Marge Piercy's work, on the other hand, although almost half a century old, contributes more than ever to social discourse with its highly topical visions for a fairer future.

for 7 - 10 musicians & an actor/actress
Soprano, Tenor, Sackbutt, Viola da Gamba, Violin, Harp, Organ, Renaissance Traverso