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)
Ex Cathedra
Jeffrey Skidmore director | Martha McLorinan mezzo-soprano | James Robinson tenor
Rachmaninoff All Night Vigil (‘Vespers’)
Audience favourites Ex Cathedra and Jeffrey Skidmore return to St Marys with Rachmaninoff’s most-loved choral work to round off a season celebrating the composer’s 150th year. Powerful, passionate, hypnotic – in a time of turmoil and amid the shock of war, Rachmaninoff turned to the choral heritage he held dear, and created one of the most awe-inspiring vocal masterpieces. With its luminous choral tapestry, mesmeric melodies and some of the lowest notes you’ll ever hear sung, there is little wonder it is beloved by audiences and singers alike.
Concert generously supported by Helen & Stan Ireland
£29 | £19 | £14
(£1 children / students)
Ex Cathedra
directed by Jeffrey Skidmore
with Andrew Skidmore cello
Baroque Passion
Music by Bach, Purcell, Lotti, Domenico Scarlatti, Kuhnau, Monteverdi, Carissimi, and Charpentier.
Ex Cathedra returns with a programme of sublime music telling of the sacrifice, heartbreak and healing of the Easter story – heartrending as Mary weeps at the foot of the cross to Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater but concludes with optimism in Bach’s glorious motet Komm, Jesu, komm.
“…a heady mix of gloriously rich polyphony” – BBC Music Magazine
£26 | £18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
The Gesualdo Six
Owain Park director
Guy James countertenor
Joseph Wicks and Josh Cooter tenor
Michael Craddock baritone, Sam Mitchell bass
Josquin’s Legacy – The Court at Ferrara
Song of Songs | Lamentations and Deplorations
Music by Josquin de Prez, Brumel, Compère, Divitis, Festa, de Févin, L’Héritier, Mouton, and de la Rue.
The Gesualdo Six scored an immediate hit with the Warwick audience and, now back for the fourth time, will transport us to a famed renaissance court in northern Italy, through which Josquin and other Franco-Flemish composers passed.
“Ingeniously programmed and impeccably delivered ” – Gramophone
£26 | £18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
The Marian Consort
directed by Rory McCleery
Why do I use my paper, ink and pen?
Treasures from the manuscripts of Elizabethan England with music by Byrd, Clemens non Papa, Giles, Parsley, Parsons, Tallis and Van Wilder.
The Marian Consort – the young, dynamic group that made its BBC Proms debut last year and whose most recent CD release was chosen as one of Presto Music’s 2021 Recordings of the Year – comes to Warwick for the first time, bringing a programme that explores sacred vocal polyphony found in the beautiful handwritten manuscripts that were the preserve of Elizabethan music collectors.
“The singers perform with a yearning intensity which is just exquisite” – Gramophone
Concert generously supported by Warwick Town Council
£26 | £18 | £12
(£1 children / students)
Roderick Williams baritone and Paul Cibis piano
When I was One and Twenty
We simply couldn’t mark RVW’s 150th year without including a performance from Roderick Williams, the current master of English Song.
This superb programme has something special for everyone with music by Chopin, Schubert and Schumann, alongside RVW, Rebecca Clarke, CW Orr, and Leamington-born composer William Denis Browne who was at Cambridge with RVW and was killed at Gallipoli.
Generously supported by Michael & Halldóra Blair
Tickets: £17 reserved centre | £12 unreserved sides
Ensemble 360
Robert Plane clarinet
Matthew Denton and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan violins
Rachel Roberts viola, Gemma Rosefield cello
with James Gilchrist tenor
and Tim Horton piano
Howard Skempton The Moon is Flashing
Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte Op 98
Howard Skempton Piano Concerto
Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge
We are delighted to be finally putting on this concert which has been twice postponed due to Covid. The music of Howard Skempton makes a recognizable feature in our Festival programmes, and what a delight to have two works that are new to Leamington audiences this year. Both are works originally scored for soloist and full orchestra, which have been re-scored by the composer for chamber ensemble.
We are pleased to welcome James Gilchrist back to the area after a gap of some eight years. This concert was originally conceived to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday back in 2020 and we couldn’t lose the opportunity of having a tenor of this eminence perform the great composer’s only song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, to complement RVW’s sublime On Wenlock Edge in his birthday celebrations.
Concert generously supported by Maurice Millward
Tickets: £25 reserved centre | £17 unreserved sides
The Gesualdo Six
Owain Park director
Guy James countertenor
Joseph Wicks and Josh Cooter tenor
Michael Craddock baritone, Sam Mitchell bass
English Motets
Since their second visit to Warwick in October 2019, the Six have toured Australia and the States and been to several countries on the continent. They return with a programme of glorious music from renaissance England by Byrd, Forrest, Power, Sheryngham, Sheppard, Tallis, Tomkins, Weelkes and White that shows that, despite the religious and political upheavals, music in England flourished in a Golden Age lasting nearly two hundred years.
Concert generously supported by John and Jean Morgan