The Playfords

Artist

The Playfords

 Favorite

About

The Playfords developed a distinctive authentic, innovative and danceable Early Music Style over the last 20 years of their existence. They are one of the few ensembles improvising extempore on stage and thus embody truthfully authenticity of historically informed performance. Their sources of creativity are music, texts and life of the 16th and 17th century in Europe and beyond. History, tradition & evergreens are woven into holistic concept programmes and blossom in new arrangements.
Early music, Folk, Pop, Jazz, non-European Music, Poetry, Dance, Art, Visual Arts and Theater are metamorphosed into I n s p i r e d E a r l y M u s i c .

The five-headed ensemble is named after John and Henry Playford’s collection “The English Dancing Master” (1651). A Real Book of it’s time providing notated Hit-melodies on fitting dance steps. Harmonies and Bass were to be improvised by the performing musicians, their essential character determined by those own predilections and particular talents. This was a welcome challenge to any virtuosic musician’s creativity – then as well as now.

The Playfords have performed regularly at international festivals since 2005, including as part of the “Oude Muziek Utrecht” Fringe festival, at the Gewandhaus Leipzig, Schloss Tirol, MDR-Musiksommer, Bach-Biennale Weimar, Stockstädter Blockflötenfesttage, Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, to Belarus in cooperation with Goethe Institut and at the EXPO 2015 in Milan and many more. So far six CDs have been released at Coviello Classics, Raumklang and DHM.

With their yearly Playgroundfestival of early music folk in Weimar the format of “Early Music Jam Sessions” and different crossover programmes with Latin, Iraqi, English, Italian, German, Austrian and Dutch Musicians have been created (Latin Baroque, Shakespeare’s Musicke & Dounce, Trialogue of Religions, L’Arte da Vinci).

Data provided by Discogs

Top Tracks

Most popular songs on Last.fm · click ▶ to preview on Spotify

1

I will give my love an apple

The Playfords

2

Steht auf, ihr lieben Kinderlein

The Playfords

3

Twas o'er the Hills and far away (Arr. for Baroque ensemble by The Playfords)

The Playfords

4

Es geht wohl gegen der Sommerzeit

The Playfords

5

Nutmegs and Ginger

The Playfords

Tour Dates

No upcoming shows found · refresh to re-check Ticketmaster

No upcoming tour dates found on Ticketmaster. Check back soon or request a fresh lookup below.

Releases

No releases found yet · refresh to fetch from Discogs

Setlists

No setlists found yet · refresh to fetch from Setlist.fm

All · 0

Setlist data provided by Setlist.fm

No setlists found.

Missing a show? Setlists sync automatically every 7 days.

Community Feed

Posts from fans about this artist

🎟️ Upcoming Shows

No upcoming shows. Follow to get notified when new dates are announced.

Concert Tickets available at StubHub!

People Also Ask

The Playfords' most-played tracks include I will give my love an apple, Steht auf, ihr lieben Kinderlein, Twas o'er the Hills and far away (Arr. for Baroque ensemble by The Playfords), Es geht wohl gegen der Sommerzeit, Nutmegs and Ginger. Listen to these songs and explore more from their catalog on this page.

The Playfords developed a distinctive authentic, innovative and danceable Early Music Style over the last 20 years of their existence. They are one of the few ensembles improvising extempore on stage and thus embody truthfully authenticity of histori... Read the full biography on this page.

You can find The Playfords vinyl records, CDs and collectibles on eBay. Browse the selection of new and used releases available for purchase.

Join the community

Follow The Playfords

Get notified about new tour dates, releases, and updates. Join thousands of fans tracking their favorite bands.

Free forever · No credit card required

Follow The Playfords