2016 will see the publication of the new book of our director, Graham O’Reilly, about the famous Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. Including two new editions, you will be finally be able to begin to understand what it sounded like when sung in the Sistine Chapel – in brief, what all...
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Concert « Les Voix de Cristal », June 20, 2015 at Port-Royal des Champs
Cristal voices : Renaissance polyphony updated Saturday, June 19, 2015 at 8:30pm Site des Granges / Grange à blés Musée de Port-Royal des Champs Route des Granges 78114 Magny-les-Hameaux The first strand The Portuguese composer Diogo Dias Melgás was a bit of a throwback. Born in 1638 in the little...
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What kind of an “opera” is Dido and Aeneas? Chapter 5
As we saw in my previous chapter, when Dido and Aeneas was given at Priest’s school in 1689, it was called an opera, as Blow’s Venus and Adonis had also been when performed at Chelsea five years earlier. But the original title of masque (in English, mask) given to Blow’s...
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The when and why of “Dido & Aeneas” by Purcell – Chapter 4
“AN OPERA perform’d at Mr Josias Priest’s Boarding-School at Chelsey by Young Gentlewomen. The Words Made by Mr Nat. Tate. The Musick Composed by Mr. Henry Purcell.” is the title of the only libretto we have. In an epilogue written for this school performance the girls are described as “Protestants...
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