A Ceremony of Carols

Friday, 14 December 2012, 20:15
Grote Kerk, Heereweg 250, 2161 BS Lisse (map)

Saturday, 15 December 2012, 20:15
Citykerk Het Steiger Sint Dominicus, Hang 18, 3011 GG, Rotterdam (map).

Entrance: €15. Advance sales: €12.50

We invite you to join us for our December concerts. We will perform a varied programme with works by Josquin des Prez (1455 – 1521), Clemens non Papa (1510 - 1556) and Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976).

We will sing the Kyrie and Gloria from Josquin’s Missa La Sol Fa Re Mi, a perfect example of the so-called soggetto cavato technique. This technique, originally used to teach singers to sight-read, is based on using syllables that correspond to note names in the do-re-mi system, in this case the syllables from the Italian phrase ‘Lascia fare mi’ (‘leave me in peace’), or La Sol Fa Re Mi.

2012 is the anniversary of the composer Clemens non Papa’s estimated 500th birthday. We will perform selected movements from his Missa Ecce Quam Bonum the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. We will also perform his De nativitate Domini. Unlike other Franco-Flemish composers of the era, Clemens was never attached to a royal court or internationally-renowned cathedral.

Of the 20th century English composer Britten’s works, we will sing Hymn to St Cecilia, an arrangement of a poem by W.H. Auden, a friend of Britten’s. Britten’s birthday was 22 November, Saint Cecilia’s saint’s day. Saint Cecilia was the patron saint of music. Once we’ve started with Britten, we cannot of course pass over A Ceremony of Carols! The choir’s performance of this sublime composition for choir and harp will be accompanied by Saskia Kingma.

Programme

Clemens non Papa (1510-1556):
Ecce Quam Bonum

Josquin des Prez (c. 1450/1455 – 1521):
Missa La Sol Fa Re Mi - Kyrie, Gloria

Clemens non Papa:
Missa Ecce Quam Bonum - Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus dei

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
Hymn to St. Cecilia

Clemens non Papa:
De nativitate domini

Pérotin (c. 1200):
Viderunt Omnes

Benjamin Britten
A Ceremony of Carols