2023
Hevene Quene: Marian Devotion from Mediæval England & France
28th April & 1 May, Esplanade Concourse, Esplanade—Theatres on the Bay Gautier de Coincy (1177–1236), French abbot and troubadour, set poems in praise of the Virgin Mary to popular melodies of his day that celebrated the unattainable love of a noble lady. This juxtaposition of courtly love and Marian devotion continued in the French-influenced Norman courts of England. As part of the Esplanade’s Tapestry of Sacred Music festival, we present a selection of Marian devotional and liturgical music taken from Gautier de Coincy’s Miracles de Notre Dame, the Worcester Fragments (13th–14th c.), and the Old Hall Manuscript (14th–15th c.).
Ego sum qui sum: Franco-Flemish Music for Easter
29 April, St Patrick's School Chapel & 30 April, Queenstown Lutheran Church
In the Renaissance, the Franco-Flemish style became the first ‘International Style’ in music. Come hear us sing Gombert’s six-voice Easter motet Ego sum qui sum, Rogier’s mass based on it, and other Easter-themed pieces by Franco-Flemish composers of the period.
Darts of Love: Songs of Love and Death from 16th c. Italy
24 June, Christ Church, Melaka
Love and death from 16th and 17th century Italy take centrestage—from the courtly frottle of Tromboncino and Cara to the virtuosic works of Monteverdi to the tortured and twisted madrigals of Gesualdo, all topped off with some pieces celebrating the extravagant Medici weddings of 1539 and 1589.
Puer Natus Est: A Festal English Christmas
25-26 November, Prinsep St Presbyterian Church and Queenstown Lutheran Church
A peculiarly English genre is the Festal Mass, marked by elaborate scale and scoring. Thomas Tallis’ Missa Puer Natus Est is a distinctive example of this, exceptional in its full use of all seven voices throughout, rather than interpolating semichorus sections as in other large-scale Tudor festal masses. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death, we present Christmas propers from William Byrd’s Gradualia, together with carols, motets and anthems from the Eton Choirbook and contemporary composers for the Advent and Christmas season
