Artsy Cheap Date Idea

National Gallery Chamber Players perform Renaissance and Baroque chamber music in a free concert on July 8, 2007.

For those of you in the D.C. area - need an idea for an interesting, artsy, cheap date? How about heading to the National Gallery of Art for their Early Music Festival on July 8 at 6:00pm! It will be held in the West Garden Court of their West Building. The National Gallery Chamber Players will be performing Renaissance and Baroque chamber music.

So what’s Early Music? It’s generally considered to be music written in the Baroque period or earlier (i.e., about 1750 or earlier). Think about it this way. In the context of European classical music, the best-loved pieces were written in the 1700s and the 1800s. So “early music” dates before this time and includes Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque western music played on instruments like viols, recorders, lutes, harps, harpsichords, spinets, tabors, and sackbuts.

This festival runs in honor of the National Gallery’s exhibit ”Fabulous Journeys and Faraway Places: Travels on Paper,” a collection of artworks that record experiences of European travelers on journeys from 1450–1700. Be sure to visit the exhibition, too!

The Garden Cafe will be open, so relax with ice cream and coffee after viewing the unusual artwork and listening to some great music.

The concert and exhibition are free and open to the public. For more information, call (202) 842-6941.