Programmes – repertoire

Our repertoire consists of the vocal music of the Renaissance and the Baroque (1450 – 1750) with a particular emphasis on that of the 17th century. Whereas the High Renaissance is dominated by the Flemish school, and the High Baroque by the Italian, in the settecento each country has its own style, as each feels their way at their own speed towards the new Baroque world. For our programmes, we try to highlight these differences by searching out masterpieces from those countries that might be considered out of the main-stream (Bohemia, Portugal, Mexico, Poland …) and bringing them into the context of the central tradition of Italy, France and Germany.

To enable us to go to the heart of this repertoire, where communication of emotion is all-important, the Ensemble performs almost exclusively with solo voices, “one-to-a part”. This choice, largely justified by the evidence, permits the personality of each singer, as well as the particular colour of each voice, to heighten the emotional intensity of the text, at the same time clarifying the structure of the music. Instruments (continuo, viol consort, strings and/or wind …) are added for programmes that require them from a regular team comprising some of the best players in Europe.

Renaissance music from:
•    England (Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons)
•    Flanders  (Brumel, Ockeghem, Josquin, Gombert)
•    Italy (Palestrina, Festa)
•    France (Mouton, Maillard, Sermisy)
•    Spain (Victoria, Guerrero, Morales)

Baroque music from:
•    Italy (Monteverdi, Carissimi, Gabrieli, Scarlatti, Allegri)
•    England (Purcell, Blow, Locke)
•    Germany (Schütz, Buxtehude, Handel, the Bach family)
•    France (Charpentier, Dumont, Lully)
•    Portugal (Cardoso, Melgas, Esteves)
•    Spain (Padilla, Valls)
•    Poland (Pekiel, Zielenski)
•    Bohelia/Moravie (Michna, Zelenka)

Twentieth-century choral music from:
•    The English tradition (Parry, Walton, Tippett, Howells, Harris, Warlock, Grainger, Leighton)
•    France (Debussy, Poulenc, Langlais)

 

Programmes – detail

Programmes by theme: 
•  Music in England
•  Music in Europe (Italy, Germany, France, Eastern Europe, Iberian peninsula, mixed programmes)
•  Other styles, other periods

 

All recorded works are available for concerts.