Événement

Voices of Ascension - Monteverdi Vespers of 1610

Thursday, February 22 2018 at 8pm
Church of the Ascension
Fifth Avenue at Tenth Street, NYC

featuring early music ensemble Dark Horse Consort

The towering masterpiece of the late Renaissance-early Baroque, Claudio Monteverdis Vespers of 1610 was the most ambitious work of sacred music until Bachs great oratorios more than a century later. It expresses the pageantry of grand Venetian style and the intimacy of solo serenade in a striking assimilation of both old and new styles. This creates an astonishing variety of modern music superimposed upon an old-style cantus firmus technique. The two styles are reconciled with breathtaking beauty, and the technique allows Monteverdi to build an enormous structure that surpasses anything his contemporaries were able to achieve. No other surviving work from the time is written on such a scale. The forces alone were unheard of in its day: strings, recorders, dulcian, cornetti, sackbuts, theorbos, harpsichord, organ, two choirs and many vocal soloists, including tenors echoing from a remote stairwell.

We are proud to feature the Dark Horse Consort, which is comprised of the finest period instrumentalists in the United States.

PLEASE NOTE: We are not able to issue refunds exchanges.