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  • Vespers for the Blessed Virgin: Monteverdi’s magnificent masterpiece
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  •  Date Posted: Sat, 19 Mar 2022
    Vespers for the Blessed Virgin: Monteverdi’s magnificent masterpiece
    Whilst Monteverdi was a genius at transforming his musical compositions in gold, did you know that he also dabbled in alchemy? 
    This is just one of the fascinating facts the intrepid researchers of the Chandos Chamber Choir have uncovered as part of our preparation for our performance of his Vespers of the Blessed Virgin at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico on Thursday 7 April.

    It is difficult to fully appreciate the significance of Monteverdi’s work without understanding the backdrop against which it was composed.  Monteverdi (1567-1643) was a composer, a musician and a priest, composing and performing both sacred and secular works.  He held appointments as both a court and a chapel musician, and his letters give a fascinating insight into the life of a professional musician during that period.

    Monteverdi was a key figure in the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music, and indeed came under criticism for his adoption of a new harmonic style which he saw as an evolution of earlier polyphony, but others considered a radical change.  The furore had largely died down by the time his Vespers were published in 1610, though we can clearly hear the fusion of old and new throughout.  It is unlikely that Monteverdi viewed the collection of psalms, motets, a hymn and a Magnificat as a single continuous work.  However, the separate elements are clearly linked through the use of the traditional Gregorian plainchant sung by one of the voices and adorned by more intricate harmonisation in the other parts.



    The Vespers showcase Monteverdi’s talent as a composer, and, in 1613, he was unanimously elected to the post of first organist and Maestro di Capella at St. Mark's, Venice.  This was the most highly regarded musical appointment in Italy, which he held for the rest of his life.

    As for the alchemy, Monteverdi describes his experiments to transform lead into gold in his correspondence of 1625 and 1626 with the Mantuan courtier Ercole Marigliani.  Unfortunately, there is no record of him being successful  in these experiments – but  don’t miss your opportunity to hear the Chandos Chamber Choir turn his Vespers into gold on 7 April at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico.  


    Tickets are available here.

  • We're back!
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, 21 Sep 2021
    Tonight we sang as a full choir in St Stephen's Walbrook for the first time since March 2020!
    View from the tenor section

    It was so very good to sing together again as a full choir. 
    As you can probably see from the photo, we're staying socially-distanced (although not to such a great extent as we were when rehearsing a smaller group for Ely Cathedral), which makes it somewhat harder to hear other parts clearly (and James when he's facing the other way!), but the tremendous acoustic of St Stephen's means we get an ethereal mix of the whole sound washing around us. It takes some getting used to!

    Nevertheless, we made excellent progress on our first sing-through of Vivaldi's Gloria, and it was sounding very together by the end of the evening. It should be fabulous by the time we perform it on December 9th!
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