Concerts On The Hill: St. John’s Selects
CAPELLA ALAMIRE PRESENTS
THREE RENAISSANCE GLORIAS
ROBERTS HALL: Thursday, January 22, 7pm
$30 suggested donation; cash, check, or CC accepted at the door. Advanced tickets on sale now.
NOTE: THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD IN INTIMATE ROBERTS HALL, A VENUE WHICH HAS A MAXIMUM SEATED CAPACITY OF 40.
The program consists of three Glorias drawn from Renaissance masses, by Heinrich Isaac (c1450-1518), Antoine de Févin (c1470-1512), and the most famous composer of the time—Anonymous (the composer's name will be revealed in January based on ongoing research by the director, Peter Urquhart). The three Glorias span a period of just 25 years around 1500, a time when polyphony reached its full flowering by Franco-Flemish composers. Three different modes are presented by the three Glorias, which show the transition from the cantus firmus style of the 15th c. to pervading imitation of the 16th.
About The Ensemble
Capella Alamire, directed by Peter Urquart, is a Portsmouth-based early music vocal ensemble of nine singers, formed in 1984 in Cambridge, MA, but centered since 1995 in the Seacoast area. The current iteration of the group consists of singers long connected with the Capella combined with new members drawn from the choir of St. John's Episcopal Church where the group rehearses.
About The Director
Peter Urquhart is a musicologist and conductor, and has taught at Brandeis, Harvard, and Boston Universities, while based at the University of New Hampshire. His research centers on problems of pitch, counterpoint and structure in 15th-16th c. music. His editorial work contributed to the New Josquin Edition, and to performances by the Tallis Scholars, Orlando Consort, and Paul Hillier. Capella Alamire's explorations of Franco-Flemish music at Harvard grew into performances in Boston, New York, and Montreal. The group was invited to perform at the Currier Gallery, Manchester (1997), the Monadnock Music Festival (1996), and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC (1993). Radio interviews of the Capella were aired by WGBH-Boston (2003) and WWFM-New Jersey (2014). Urquhart's book on Sound and Sense in Franco-Flemish Music of the Renaissance was published in 2021 by Peeters, Leuven. In retirement, he has advised dissertations from McGill and Boston University, and is returning to early interests in composition and arranging.