Palestrina Quincentenary Vespers 1592

Saturday 29th March 2025 at 6 to 8 pm

New College School Chamber Choir and Choral Society

The Choir of St. Michael the Archangel, Burghclere

Ensemble Res Sacra

His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts

Directed by Thomas Neal

A concert to celebrate the quincentenary of Giovanni Pierluigi ‘da Palestrina’ (c.1525-1594). The programme is structured as a service of Vespers for the feast of The Annunciation, using music published in Giovanni Matteo Asola’s anthology Sacra omnium solemnitatum psalmodia vespertina cum cantico B. Virginis […] quinque vocibus […] (Venice: Ricciardo Amadino, 1592), which he dedicated to Palestrina. Music includes compositions by Asola, Giovanni Croce, Pietro Pontio, Girolamo Vespa, Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, and of course Palestrina himself – framed by the liturgical ‘Gregorian’ chants of the feast. Much of this music has been newly transcribed and edited specially for this concert, and may well be being performed for the first time since the sixteenth century.

To book tickets:

https://allevents.in/oxford/1592-vespers/100001230306532959