There was more than a hint of history, along with a bracing dash of the contemporary, when Berlin-based Irish viola da gambist Liam Byrne and Australian gambist Laura Vaughan appeared in a duo recital of fragile beauty for the latest in the Utzon Music Series at Sydney Opera House.

Branded Liquid Threads, this enchanting meeting of two instruments first heard 600 years ago cast a quiet spell over the audience as the duo cherrypicked pieces from the 16th and 17th centuries mixed with works by four contemporary composers, three of whom were in the room.

Liam Byrne and Laura Vaughan, Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House. Photo © Cassandra Hannagan

The opening Fantasia by keyboardist and madrigalist Orlando Gibbons, with its delicately interlacing parts and ethereal echoing phrases, illustrates the fragile voice-like qualities of bass viols.

The fuller tone of the seven strings, tuned like a guitar in fourths and ideal for chord playing, is a nice contrast as it segues into a Galliard and Corranto by Alfonso Ferrabosco II, the son of Elizabeth I’s madrigalist (and possible Italian spy) Alfonso the Elder.

True to the liquid theme of the program the world premiere...