The new music list is now available. It is not only the final list of 2017, but also the end of Cardoso450, a project that has been a constant companion since February 2016. Cardoso's 6-part Requiem was one of the works that encouraged the project into existence; it is fitting that it should be one of the final works we perform. But what of the rest?
Read more2017 Q3 music list
We're entering the final stages of our monumental Cardoso450 project, building up to the big finish on the Q4 music list. Our Cardoso focus allows us to explore another Palestrina/Cardoso pairing on Sunday 16th June - Veni sponsa Christi for our Patronal Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Another interesting pairing can be heard on 20th August with two settings of the story of a woman whose daughter is possessed by a devil (Matthew 15: 21-22). This list also has a strong English accent with music by Byrd, Mundy, Philips, Tallis and Tye, a foretaste of our forthcoming project in 2018/19 - more details soon. We're particularly excited to be able to perform Holst's 8-part Ave Maria for upper voices and two motets by Sweelinck whose sacred music is heard far too infrequently.
2017 Q2 music list
Concert: Cardoso & The Golden Age
We’re very excited to be presenting a concert as part of our Cardoso450 project next month on Thursday December 8th at 7.30pm.
Read moreKyrie-Christe-Christe-Kyrie
The Masses of Cardoso and his Portuguese contemporaries follow an interesting pattern in their Kyries, providing two distinct polyphonic settings of the Christe. This Kyrie–Christe–Christe–Kyrie sequence is only exceptionally found in the Spanish and Roman etc. schools, but was standard on the Iberian Peninsula in the 16th and early 17th centuries. What is the significance of this and how does it affect our approach to performance?
Read moreHic est discipulus ille
Using a Motet as a basis for a Mass is a long-established technique used by the majority of composers in the Renaissance, taking either a Motet of their own or of another composer as a model, the latter being a mark of respect, an indication of the high esteem in which the first composer held the second. This Sunday offers the first opportunity in the Cardoso450 series of hearing this technique in action.
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