Rune
Angela Hicks soprano, Daniel Thomson tenor, Jean Kelly harp
May Robertson vielle, Daniel Scott recorders & portative organ
Decameron Musicale
Giovanni Boccaccio wrote his masterwork Decameron after the outbreak of the Plague in Florence, 1348. It is a tale in which a group of friends, sequestered from the horrors of the plague in a rural villa, share stories with each other to entertain, rouse, and move. This programme is a mosaic of musical stories from early modern Europe featuring music by Landini, de Vitry, Dunstable, Binchois, and Machaut, and threaded with medieval music from more distant times and places, just as Boccaccio weaved together stories from as far away places as India and the Middle East.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 7.45pm
Interval: None
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
Monteverdi String Band
Oliver Webber and Theresa Caudle violins
Wendi Kelly and David Brooker violas, Mark Caudle bass violin
Hannah Ely soprano | Toby Carr lute & theorbo
The Madrigal Reimagined
The Monteverdi String Band return with a fascinating programme that explores the blossoming and transformation of the Italian madrigal as reflected in diverse settings from solo voice and lute to a full string band. We will discover every facet of the madrigal’s transformative journey from gentle part song to one of the dramatic cornerstones of opera.
Monteverdi’s powerfully poignant settings nestle with virtuosic ornamental reworkings of madrigals, instrumental preludes, and canzonas by Rore, Palestrina, Bovicelli, and Caccini to create miniature scenes, framed by short, topical readings from the worlds of music, dance and theatre.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: 20 mins
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Daniel Blaze & Evie Perfect organ
Graham Ross conductor
Bethlehem Star
Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge return to Leamington Music with Bethlehem Star, a sumptuous festive programme of carols and motets including choral works by Rheinberger, Arvo Pärt, Reena Esmail, James Whitbourn, Cecilia MacDowall, Jonathan Dove, and Christmas’s favourite choral composer, Clare College alumnus John Rutter.
What better delight could there be at Christmas than wonderful choral music in St Mary’s with our traditional mulled wine and mince pies included?
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: 20 mins
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
The Binchois Consort
Matthew Farrell and Tom Lilburn altos
Dominic Bland, Tom Castle, Mark Dobell and George Pooley tenors
Andrew Kirkman director | Jamie Savan slide trumpet
‘In the Midst of Death there is Life’:
Celebrating 550 years of the Afterlife of Guillaume Du Fay
The 550th anniversary of the death of Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume Du Fay (the dominant figure in European music of the second half of the 15th century) provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the composer’s virtuosic contribution to music. Jamie Savan’s addition of the slide trumpet to the line-up brings a local connection too, as some of the earliest evidence of the instrument relates to trumpeters in the service of the Earl of Warwick.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 7.45pm
Interval: None
Estimated finish: 9.45pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
The Gesualdo Six
Owain Park director, Guy James and Alasdair Austin countertenors
Joseph Wicks and Josh Cooter tenors, Michael Craddock baritone
Queen of Hearts
A selection of Motets and Chansons from the French Court, focusing on European Queens: Anne of Brittany, Margaret of Austria, Anne Boleyn, and Mary Tudor. Reflecting on these earthly regencies, devotional motets for the Queen of Heaven are interwoven with texts from the Song of Songs, appropriated to venerate the Blessed Virgin, alongside specially written chansons and motets commemorating key moments in the reign of Europe’s Queens. Music by Brumel, Compère, Festa, de Févin, Gombert, L’Héritier, Mouton, des Prez, Prioris, Ninfea Crutwell-Reade, & Owain Park.
Concert generously supported by John & Jean Morgan
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: None
Estimated finish: 8.45pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
Martinů String Quartet
Lubomír Havlák violin and Adéla Štajnochrová violins
Martin Stupka viola, Jitka Vlašánková cello
with Simon Wallfisch baritone
and Gemma Rosefield cello
Krása String Quartet
Tauský Coventry
Sylvie Bodorová Terezín Ghetto Requiem
Schubert String Quintet in C D956
The Festival’s final concert includes Vilém Tauský’s Coventry, written in 1940 after visiting the recently ruined cathedral.
Sylvie Bodorová’s Terezín Ghetto Requiem (premièred in Holy Trinity Church in 1998) will be played here for the fifth time, after numerous performances in England, North America, and on the continent. Simon Wallfisch was the impressive baritone soloist last time, in 2016, and Gemma Rosefield also returns to play Schubert’s masterpiece with the Martinů String Quartet.
Join us after the concert for a celebratory glass of wine!
Generously supported by Diane Holt and Peter Robinson
£27 | £22 | £17
(£1 children / students)
Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Haas Four Songs on Chinese Poetry
Ullmann Two Chinese Songs
Korngold Der Kranke Op 38 No 2
Suk Longing from Spring Op 22a
Janáček Andante from In the Mists
Dvořák Gypsy Songs Op 55
Simon Wallfisch returns to Leamington for the first time since 2016 for this recital and to repeat his memorable performance of Terezín Ghetto Requiem. In 2022, for BBC Radio 3, he curated and sang in a programme of works by Terezín composers at the Barbican. Last year he made his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he now lives. Leamington Music is delighted to welcome the distinguished pianist and composer Iain Farrington here for the first time.
£18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
Stile Antico
Dante: A Divine Hope
Dante Alighieri’s Comedia (Divine Comedy) is considered one of the greatest works of literature ever written. Its enduring imagery has shaped our western culture’s views and understanding of the afterlife for more than 700 years. With this programme, Stile Antico descends with Il Divino into Hell, journeys together through Purgatory, and finally arrives at the gates of Heaven. Renaissance madrigals and sacred music by composers such as Victoria, Palestrina, and Morales illustrate the way, and texts by Dante himself, set to music by Lazzaschi and Merulo, also narrate the story. At the pinnacle of Heaven we meet the Virgin Mary in Giovanni Gabrieli’s glorious 12-part Magnificat.
£29 | £19 | £14
(£1 children / students)
Joglaresa
Katharine Hawnt voice, Victoria Couper voice & harp, May Robertson fidel
Jordan Murray percussion & dulcimer, Jonny Akerman percussion
Sing we Yule
Celebrate Yule effervescently with Joglaresa – and chase out the chill from the Celtic fringes of Europe – with traditional carols and wassails from Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. With fidel, harp, bells and voices, Joglaresa ring in Christmas and New Year in this joyful programme of carols, lullabies, dance tunes and wassails. Joglaresa’s cleverly imaginative programming transcends the limits of what is often thought of as early music, and the ensemble has made many visits over the years since its formation in 1992.
Concert generously supported by Michael & Pat Bird
£27 | £17 | £12
(£1 children / students)
includes mulled wine and mince pies
Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano
with the Chelys Consort of Viols
Ibi Aziz | Jenny Bullock | Kate Conway | Alison Kinder | Sam Stadlen
The Honour of William Byrd
If musical output gives us an indication of the person within, then who is this man who is both devoutly Catholic yet clearly a favourite of the Protestant Queen who made his faith illegal? A character capable of both weighty contemplation and sharp wit, and the loyal friend who wrote so personally and touchingly of the loss of his teacher and friend Thomas Tallis. This programme explores the proud Englishman, devoted friend, loyal subject, and faithful servant who was William Byrd.
Concert generously supported by Diane Holt
£27 | £17 | £12
(£1 children / students)