What better way for the Ripieno Choir to celebrate William Byrd’s 400th anniversary than to join forces with the world class, Gramophone Award winning English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble to perform masterpieces by the man himself, and his English and Italian contemporaries.
The beautiful sounds of sackbuts and cornetts perfectly complement the human voice, and the blended sound of instruments and voices would have been a common experience for the sixteenth century ear. Together, they enabled composers to envisage grand, multipart works, with instruments and voices distributed across the parts, perhaps with choirs of singers and players distributed around the performance space for added effect.
With this collaboration, we can take on some of these larger scale works – such as Byrd’s sacred masterpiece The Great Service, as well as Gabrieli’s Magnificat in 14 parts and Regina Coeli in 12 – the instruments and voices coming together to thrilling effect.
Alongside these are immaculate, upbeat gems such as Monteverdi’s Cantate Domino, Byrd’s Sing joyfully, and Palestrina’s Exsultate Deo. In rehearsals, the choir enjoy singing these so much that many of us can’t sit still. Do join us in celebratory mode, and see if you find yourself dancing along too.