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.
Read more2016 Q2 music list published
The latest music list is available here.
Our Cardoso450 series continues, but, after the concentrated period of Lent and Easter, now features once or twice a month as far as Advent. The wonderful Sheppard Libera nos settings feature on Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi has a French flavour this year with the exuberance of Widor’s Messe and the quiet contemplation of Messiaen’s colourful O sacrum convivium.
Music without ties
In typesetting the music for Cardoso450 the aim is, as far as possible, to replicate the clarity and simplicity of the original choirbooks and partbooks but using the modern score format. To this end, barlines are not used since they interrupt the clear flow of the melodic line and over-emphasise the hierarchy of beats.
Read moreThe joy of facsimile
Another day, another edition. Choosing and programming the music for our Cardoso450 project was one challenge; producing performing editions of all the works is quite another. The few pieces that already exist in our library will be redone; except the organ voluntaries, every piece of music on the Cardoso450 Calendar represents a from-scratch edition.
Read moreVacancies for 1st & 2nd Basses
The Choir of the Carmelite Priory currently has 1st Bass/Baritone and 2nd Bass vacancies. Applications are invited from highly-accomplished solo singers for appointment to the church’s eight-voice professional Choir from April 2016. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to join one of the leading church chamber choirs in London. Full details here.
Cardoso450 programme
It is with great excitement that we announce the full programme for our Cardoso450 project 2016/2017. The result of many months of planning and preparation behind the scenes, the Calendar now available shows the true scope of our project and the extraordinary amount of music we have been able to include. Whilst the works of Cardoso are central to the project, we are thrilled to be able to present the complete Masses of Garro and de Magalhães as well as an enormous variety of Motets by de Brito, de Cristo, Melgás and Morago, among others; in total, over 180 works will be sung during the course of the project. Cardoso450 presents a truly unique opportunity to experience the wealth of Portuguese polyphony within the liturgical context.