The Divine Office Choral Music at Oxford 24–28 September 2012
Up to seventeen performances with eleven ensembles in five chapels and the Sheldonian Theatre – a truly extraordinary musical, architectural and spiritual experience. The oldest and finest college choirs Provision for music to accompany the liturgy was stipulated by the founders of the major early colleges at Oxford, and choral church music there is still very much a living tradition. Many of Britain’s professional singers and choristers have passed through college choirs. As a consequence English liturgical singing is the best in the world. Christ Church, Magdalen, Merton and New College choirs remain the finest in Oxford and enjoy international reputations for excellence. All perform in this festival. Internationally acclaimed professional ensembles Five professional choirs also participate: The Tallis Scholars, the world’s leading performers of Renaissance repertoire; Westminster Cathedral Choir, among the most exalted of liturgical choirs and exceptionally experienced in plainsong; Stile Antico, a young ensemble which has rapidly acquired great acclaim; Sospiri, an Oxford-based choir which specialises in chant; and the Gabrieli Consort, whose a cappella forces are equally brilliant in early and later music. Instrumental interludes are provided by Phantasm, the viol consort led by the Oxford Professor of Music, Laurence Dreyfus, and the period-instrument orchestra Charivari Agréable, which joins New College Choir for the final concert. The golden age of English music
An all-inclusive festival
Access to the concerts is exclusive to those who buy a package which includes accommodation in hotels or college rooms, some dinners and lunches, lectures and much else besides. See page 16 for details of what is included. m a rt in r a nda l l t r av e l
The Tudor and early Stuart period was the golden age of English music. Taverner, Tallis, Sheppard, Byrd, Gibbons and many others rank with the greatest of their Continental peers – and many of them studied or taught at Oxford. This glorious body of music dominates the festival. A second golden age of the English choral tradition arose towards the end of the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth. This is also well represented, with compositions by Parry, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Howells and others. 2
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