Choral group to perform at Trinity Church

LENOX – The Cantilena Chamber Choir will present Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers for chorus and orchestra in a special performance on Sunday, April 21 at 3 p.m.

The choir will present this epic work with Cambridge Concentus at the Trinity Church in Lenox.

The Boston-based ensemble Cambridge Concentus brings a unique perspective to this music; the performers are drawn from a new generation of early-music musicians committed to infusing recent scholarship with an energetic performance style.

It is with this performance ideal that the ensemble performs the classic 17th- and 18th-century works to critical acclaim.

The Cantilena Choir, now in its ninth season, received Choral Arts New England’s Alfred Nash Patterson Award in 2011 for programming a unique concert at the Berkshire Museum.

“This really is the greatest work of polyphonic before Bach,” said Andrea Goodman, the founder and director of the choir. “And it is a culmination of all the work before it.”

The original composer, Claudio Monteverdi, is widely considered a major transitional figure bridging the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

His Vespro della Beata Vergine is one of his most admired works and is regarded as one of the most significant works of its era.

The 1610 Vespers contains examples of traditional Gregorian plainchant, magnificent psalm settings and smaller scale motets, as well as a sonata and a concluding Magnificat, showing consummate skill in his compelling writing for voices and instruments.

For those looking for a deeper experience, there will be a pre-concert lecture by Dr. Jeremy Yudkin, professor of Music and Chairman of the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at Boston University, beginning at 2 p.m.

Mrs. Goodman feels this kind of lecture is quite distinctive and can add a lot to the experience of attending the show.

“It is unique because Dr. Yudkin will have the pieces performed as he talks about them, usually the lecturing just stands in front and discusses them,” said Mrs. Goodman. “This can really help bring the pieces to life.”

Tickets are $30 and children will be admitted for free. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance through the choir’s website, cantilenachoir.org.

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on April 11, 2013. Filed under Community Events,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry