The award-winning quartet Plaine and Easie comes to the Indianapolis Early Music Festival for a concert on July 22, in the Frank and Katrina Basile Theatre at the Glick Indiana History Center.
When the group first got together, they faced a preliminary challenge: finding a name.
The Challenge Of Naming
Even when a group of like-minded individuals agrees to come together to play music, there can be difficult, even divisive decisions.
"Picking a name that somehow reflects who you are; is memorable or catchy; and, most important, is something that four people can agree on, is a challenge," says Nathan Whittaker, who plays historical cello. "We were playing some pieces from Thomas Morley's Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke when the idea of calling ourselves ‘Plaine and Easie' just seemed more and more reasonable. "
The Challenge Of Repertoire
For the Indy concert, Plaine and Easie is playing a program titled Joie Musicale: Music of the French Renaissance. Even after their name was secured, Plaine and Easie was faced with new challenges: playing repertoire that had to be trimmed to fit. John Lenti, the group's lute and theorbo player, says that it's a rich field and well worth the trouble, but it takes some serious arranging.
"We're a soprano singer, a violinist, a lute player and a bass violinist. There are perhaps three songs in the repertoire that fit us perfectly. For the rest, we've arranged pieces that were originally for multiple voices or started out as lute songs, and a few other types of pieces. "
So, Plaine and Easie, a group with a very Olde English name, indulges in a bit of French joie.