Sunday 9 June 2013

Music of a Killer Prince: Chandos Singers of Bath, Saturday 6th July

Music of a Killer Prince
A concert marking the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo

The Chandos Singers, conducted by Malcolm Hill, are one of Bath’s leading chamber choirs.

The concert will begin with a celebration of the 850th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of Notre Dame Cathedral. The Notre Dame School produced the first multi-part sacred works to be known internationally, thereby having a significant influence on the development of Western music.

Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613), Prince of Venosa, is known for two things: the fact that in 1590 he murdered his wife, and the passionately expressive and extraordinarily innovative choral music on which he worked for the rest of his life. Many have suggested that the two are linked. The Chandos Singers will be performing some of the most beautiful of his sacred works: Deus refugium, Reminiscere miserationum, Ave, dulcissima Maria, Gaudeamus omnes, Peccantem me, and Ave sanctissima.

The choir will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II by singing a selection from A Garland for the Queen, commissioned from British composers by the Arts Council for performance on the eve of the Coronation. The Chandos Singers have chosen to perform the works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi, Edmund Rubbra, and John Ireland.

The programme is completed by a dramatic setting from the contemporary Finnish composer and linguist Jaakko Mäntyjärvi of Double, double, toil and trouble from Macbeth.

The concert will be held in the serene surroundings of the Magdalen Chapel on Holloway, Bath. A chapel is known to have existed on this site in the 11th century, and a leper hospital was built close by in the 12th. Both were under the care of the Abbey monks. The current building is 15th century. Despite severe bomb damage in 1942, it remains an active centre of worship.

Interval refreshments can be enjoyed in the Chapel garden, which has spectacular views over Bath.

Saturday 6th July 2013, 7.30pm
The Magdalen Chapel, Holloway, Bath BA2 4PX

Tickets: £12, students £6
Bath Box Office: 01225 463362 | boxoffice@bathfestivals.org.uk

Online bookings
https://uk.patronbase.com/_BathFestivals/Productions/CS2/Performances

Further details
Mandy Shaw 01225 436302 | mandy.shaw@iperimeter.co.uk

Chandos Singers
www.chandos-singers.co.uk
Magdalen Chapel
www.magdalenchapelbath.co.uk