Celebrating the Renaissance
| Type of post: | Choir news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | Karen Parkes |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Sat, 30 Nov 2024 |
The repertoire for Chandos’ Christmas concert spans several centuries of composition. At the earlier end of the spectrum, our programme includes Tomás Luis de Victoria’s setting of Conditor alme siderum. Victoria was a priest as well as an accomplished singer and organist, but his legacy is as the most famous Spanish Renaissance composer. This a seventh-century Advent hymn, rewritten by Pope Urban VIII in 1632, alternates between plainchant and polyphony and is known in English as Creator of the Stars of Night.
The carolling tradition is also well represented by Guillaume Costeley’s Allon Gay Bergeres, first published in 1567. This chanson imagines shepherdesses going to see the new-born king and bringing gifts.
Our programme also also includes a secular piece: Claudio Monteverdi’s Svogava con le stelle which recounts how a lovesick man implores the stars to communicate his passion to his beloved. This madrigal is performed in quite a different style from both the plainsong and polyphony of Victoria, and the chanson of Costeley – we hope that you enjoy the variety of styles we will embrace as we celebrate the heavens.
