Event
Tudor Choir Concert: COMPLINE and Other Night Music
The Tudor Choir presents COMPLINE and Other Night Music, an atmospheric, candlelit program of chant, Renaissance, and contemporary works inspired by the medieval service of Compline. The 13-voice choir, directed by Doug Fullington, will perform on Saturday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. at historic Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattles University District.
Admission is by donation, with a suggested donation of $20. Advance passes, which include seating in a reserved section, are available online at www.tudorchoir.org or www.brownpapertickets.com.
COMPLINE and Other Night Music is the second in a series of five events the Tudor Choir will present and participate in at Blessed Sacrament Church in 2009. Upcoming events include a carol concert on December 26, and two Dominican Solemn High Massesthe first on August 14 (Feast of the Assumption) and the second on November 2 (Feast of All Souls). Visit www.tudorchoir.org for more information.
About Compline
The medieval monastic service (or Office) of Compline (Latin for completion, here referring to the completion of the work day) is the last service of the Daily Hours, sung before going to sleep. Also called Night Prayer, Compline is a contemplative service emphasizing spiritual peace and made up mostly of prayers and psalms. Compline received special attention in England during the 16th century, with many composers setting its texts to music for choir. Much of this new choral music was performed in alternation with the chant to which the service was traditionally sung.
About the music
The music on the program, drawn from the Tudor era in combination with contemporary works, will be performed in sequences made up of several pieces, each related to the next by similarity of theme or sound world.
Tudor composers Christopher Tye (c. 1505-1571/2) and John Sheppard (c. 1515-1559) were among many who wrote settings of Compline responsories, including In pace (In peace I lie down ad take my rest) and In manus tuas (Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit). Sheppards two seven-voice settings of the prayer Libera nos, salva nos (Free us, save us) were composed for the community at Magdalen College, Oxford, whose statutes required the prayer be recited each morning and evening by every member as part of his devotions. Robert White (c. 1538-1574) composed four settings of the Compline hymn Christe qui lux es et dies (Christ, who is the light and day). Whites haunting, five-voice setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah was not composed for use at Compline, but its sober, contemplative text lends itself to the evening, as do John Taverners (c.1490-5145) motet Quemadmodum (As the deer longs for water) and John Wilbyes (1574-1638) madrigal Draw on, sweet night.
Contemporary music on the program includes English composer Herbert Howells (1892-1983) setting of the Nunc dimittis (Lord, now let your servant depart in peace), the Gospel canticle (song) at Compline, composed for Westminster Cathedral in 1914; French composer Maurice Durufls (1902-1986) beloved setting of Ubi caritas (Where there is charity and love); and settings by two young American composersEric Whitacres Sleep, set to a poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri, and Kevin Siegfrieds Top of the hill, set to a poem by Sarah Orne Jewett.
Program
CHANT: Te lucis ante terminum
HOWELLS, Herbert: Nunc dimittis
SHEPPARD, John: In pace
SHEPPARD: In manus tuas I
WILBYE, John: Draw on, sweet night
WHITE, Robert: Christe qui lux I
WHITE: Lamentations I
TAVERNER, John: Quemadmodum
WHITE: Christe qui lux IV
Intermission
TYE, Christopher: In pace
WHITACRE, Eric: Sleep
LASSUS, Orlande: Musica Dei donum
SIEGFRIED, Kevin: Top of the hill
DURUFL, Maurice: Ubi caritas
SHEPPARD: Libera nos I & II
CHANT: In paradisum
About the Tudor Choir
Hailed as a superb choir (Gramophone), as well as a choir to watch (Fanfare), the Tudor Choir and its director Doug Fullington are receiving increasing national and international attention as interpreters of Renaissance polyphony and early American music. Founded in 1993, the Seattle-based professional vocal chamber ensemble comprises 12 core singers, but can expand to up to 40 members for works such as Thomas Tallis monumental Spem in alium. As Artists-in-Residence at St. Marks Cathedral, Seattle, and a Resident Ensemble at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Medina, the choir presented an annual subscription series through spring 2007 and now performs at Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattles University District. The Tudor Choir has performed under guest conductors including Peter Phillips, Paul Hillier, Andrew Parrott, Stephen Cleobury, and Martin Haselbck, and also has made guest appearances with Mark Morris Dance Group, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Early Music Guild of Seattle. Recent appearances include performances at Festival Vancouver, Annas Bay Music Festival, and Early Music Society of the Islands. The choirs recordings of Renaissance polyphony, English carols, and early American music have been released on the Loft Recordings and Gothic labels.
|
|
 |
LocationBlessed Sacrament Church
5041 - 9th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98105
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
|
Contact
|
