Event
The Tudor Choir: THE GOLDEN AGE
The Tudor Choir performs a concert of Renaissance sacred music from England and Spain celebrating the ongoing restoration of historic Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle's University District. Advance ticket purchasers will sit in a reserved seating section.
PROGRAM
Victoria: Regina caeli
Guerrero: Gloriose confessor Domini
Guerrero: Ave virgo sanctissima
Morales: Beati omnes
Victoria: Salve regina
Byrd: O quam gloriosum
Byrd: Mass for Ascension (Gradualia)
Byrd: Ave verum corpus
Cornysh: Salve regina (Eton Choirbook)
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The 16th century is often referred to as a “golden age” of music and other arts. Ideas with roots in the Middle Ages culminated in the Renaissance with a wealth of creative expression. England and Spain were among the foremost centers of musical development, fostering a rich heritage of vocal music, much of which was composed to adorn the ceremony of the Church.
The music on the Tudor Choir’s GOLDEN AGE program celebrates this heritage and has been selected in particular to highlight the newly restored and renovated sanctuary of historic Blessed Sacrament Church, an English Gothic Revival building in Seattle’s University District, where the choir is a resident ensemble.
Blessed Sacrament Church was founded in 1908 by the Dominican Friars, upon the request of Bishop O'Dea to establish a community in his diocese and to assume the care of the students and residents of the University District in Seattle. The church was between 1909 and 1911, based on designs by Arnold Constable. The adjacent Priory was completed in 1922. Blessed Sacrament Church was registered as a Seattle landmark in 1981 and a State landmark in 1984.
A major retrofit and restoration of the church building was completed in 2003, following the Nisqually Earthquake of 2001. Recent work includes a newly sealed floor—enhancing the building’s already superb acoustic—new seating, a restored and renovated sanctuary—including the removal of mid-20th century additions, bringing the building closer to the original intentions of its designer and builders—and an upgraded kitchen for the Church’s dinner program that has been serving hundreds weekly for more than 35 years.
The celebratory GOLDEN AGE program has been chosen from works by leading composers of the Spanish and English Renaissance: Tomás Luis de Victoria, Francisco Guerrero, Cristóbal Morales, William Byrd, and William Cornysh.
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) was born in Spain, but spent the first half of his career in Rome. Although considered a “Roman” composer in his time, Victoria is now regarded as quintessentially Spanish, a chief representative of the spiritual mysticism that infused Renaissance Iberian art, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation. He achieved great fame in his lifetime, during which all of his music was published. Victoria’s 8-voice setting of the Marian antiphon "Regina caeli" and his 6-voice setting of the Marian antiphon "Salve regina" will be performed.
The best-known Spanish composer of the generation before Victoria, Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599) was born and died in Seville. He was in great demand as a singer and composer, establishing an exceptional reputation before his thirtieth birthday. He published several collections of his music abroad, an unusual accomplishment for a young composer, and in his later years he traveled widely. His 5-voice Marian motet, "Ave virgo sanctissima," enjoyed exceptional popularity. Of particular relevance to Blessed Sacrament Church, a Dominican parish, is Guerrero’s motet "Gloriose confessor Domini," an exuberant 4-voice setting of a prayer to St. Dominic.
Like Victoria, Cristóbal Morales (c. 1500-1553) spent time in Rome before returning to Spain. His music was widely distributed throughout Europe and in the New World and he was the first Spanish composer of international renown. Morales’ 6-voice setting of Psalm 128, "Beati omnes," demonstrates his mastery.
William Byrd (1540-1623) was the great composer of the English High Renaissance. Although he served Elizabeth I as a member of her Chapel Royal, Byrd was a devout Catholic. He eventually moved out of London with his family and lived as part of a recusant Catholic community in Stondon Massey. Here he composed his famous Gradualia, two publications of vocal settings of liturgical texts spanning the entire year that were sung by the men and women of the Stondon Massey community. Byrd’s moving "Ave verum corpus," a communion hymn, is one of the most popular settings from his Gradualia, and his settings of texts for the Feast of the Ascension are among the most animated music in the collection. "O quam gloriosum," a five-voice motet for the Feast of All Saints, dates from Byrd’s years in Elizabeth’s service and was published in his 1589 Liber Primus Sacrarum Cantionum (First Book of Sacred Songs).
Several generations before Byrd, William Cornysh (died 1502) was in charge of the music and choir of St. Peter’s Abbey, Westminster, where he composed in the lavish style typical of late-Medieval English sacred music. Several of his works were published in the famous Eton Choirbook, including his glorious 5-voice setting of "Salve Regina."
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LocationBlessed Sacrament Church
5041 9th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98105
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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