“In quires and places…”

Perhaps the most significant difference between medieval sacred music and that of later ages lies in its function. Far from seeing music as an end to itself, the anonymous medieval musician would have seen his own art as being merely part of the overall grandeur and ceremony of the church, fulfilling much the same function as the architecture of the buildings themselves. As part of this general ceremony, choirs would have been accustomed to performing from various stations in the church as well as in procession; before the advent of complex polyphonic music, it is evident that the places they sang from numbered more than just the choir.

“We are indeed fortunate to possess such a fine group of singers in the capital” — The Dominion

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Programme

Laudes Regiae: anon
Conditor alme: anon
Nova, nova! Ave fit ex Eva: anon
Alleluia: te martyrem: anon
Angelus ad Virginem: anon

Motet: Ave Maris stella: John Dunstable
Carol: Woefully arrayed: William Cornish

Antiphon: Mater Christi: John Taverner

Interval

Motet: Suscipe quaeso Domine: Thomas Tallis
Motet: Veni redemptor: Thomas Tallis

Anthem: Blessed are all they: Orlando Gibbons
Anthem: O sing unto the Lord: Thomas Tomkins

Anthem: Jehova quam multi sunt: Henry Purcell
Introit: Hear my prayer O Lord: Henry Purcell

8pm, Friday 12 September 1986
Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, Molesworth Street, Wellington

dir. Simon Ravens

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