“In quires and places…”
Friday 12 September 1986, 8pm
Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Cnr Molesworth and Hill St
Wellington
Directed by Simon Ravens
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.
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