7.30pm
Exeter College Chapel
Turl St, Oxford OX1 3DP
£18, £8 students / under 25
Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Mark Jordan (conductor)
Masterworks of the Renaissance
Oxford Pro Musica Singers is delighted to present a celebration of the exceptional efflorescence of European choral music between 1400 and 1600. Our programme encompasses the extraordinary creative range of the period, showcasing early and late styles as well as works both sacred and secular.
The rugged energy of a movement from Du Fay’s Missa l’homme arme, founded on the popular ditty of the time (also used by Karl Jenkins!) and Ockeghem’s darkly intense ‘Ave Maria’ are among examples of the early mode, moving on through Josquin’s celebrated ‘In te Domine speravi’ and Mouton’s transcendent ‘Nesciens mater’. Later highlights include Alonso Lobo’s searing funeral motet for Philip II, ‘Versa est in luctum’, with its emotive intensity of vocal layering and suspension, Victoria’s radiant ‘O quam gloriosum’ and Gabrieli’s exuberant ‘Jubilate Deo’.
Although we might expect the secular items to return us to earth, this would not be entirely accurate: several feature a bird theme, from the doleful elegance of Arcadelt’s madrigal about a gentle white swan to the dynamism of French chansons such as Passereau’s cheekily suggestive ‘Il est bel et bon’ and Jannequin’s ‘Le chant des oiseaux’, both of which abound in imaginative imitative sounds and are huge fun.
The ornate interior and resonant acoustic of Exeter College Chapel is the perfect venue to enjoy this evening of glittering music, the enduring legacy of these Renaissance Masters. Do join us!
n.b. The concert will finish around 9pm.
Oxford Pro Musica Singers performing in Exeter College Chapel, Oxford, 2023
