One of the particular musical pleasures of the early seventeenth century was the ability of Italian musicians to improvise ‘divisions’ on well-known melodies. Polyphonic chansons from the mid-16th century provided material for a practice where the performer would play many fast notes to fill in the spaces between pitches of the melody. This “division” of space between melodic pitches generated the place for artistry, grace and beauty in performance. Many solo instruments have a tradition of divisions, but those played on cornetto perhaps come closest to replicating vocal gestures. Our cornettist Chuck Colburn is accompanied by Margret Gries at the Brombaugh organ. A similar tradition of improvisation is part of the organist’s training, and in this program you’ll hear examples of this practice for keyboards. Margret will also perform music of Frescobaldi on a harpsichord with ‘divided’ keys, allowing two possible pitch options for some notes. (For example for the half step above F there are two ‘black’ keys, one tuned to F sharp and one to G flat.) This program is also the inaugural concert for her new harpsichord with pedals. With accompaniment on the archlute by Anson Brown.