GRANDS CONCERTS: LE POÈME HARMONIQUE / HAIL! BRIGHT CECILIA
Can you imagine a better way of celebrating music than praising its patron saint by singing? It was in this spirit that the annual commemoration of St Cecilia (22 November) was celebrated in London with odes and hymns composed especially on that occasion in the late 17th century. One such work is Hail! Bright Cecilia – a monumental, nearly one-hour-long tribute to… the music itself! In the 1692 masterpiece, Henry Purcell leads audiences from the contrasting tones of the overture, through subtle dialogues between voice and instruments, to rousing choral finales.
The festival’s evening dedicated to the works of the “British Orpheus” will take listeners back to the extraordinary period of Restoration, when music in England had a chance to revive after the harsh days of Puritan rule, and Purcell imbued it with new lustre and glory through his talent. The programme proposed by Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique sheds new light on one of Purcell’s finest works, which will be accompanied by his a cappella antiphon Remember not, Lord, our offences and John Blow’s praise of music Welcome, every guest.
Enriched with an element of staging, the concert will immerse the audience in the golden age of English music, when harmony, beauty and a celebration of life triumphed. It is a shared exploration of the infinite richness of the works of Purcell and his contemporaries.
Performers:
Charlotte La Thrope – soprano
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian – alto
Hugo Hymas – tenor
Tomáš Král – bass
Goeffrey Carey – narrator
Le Poème Harmonique
Vincent Dumestre – conductor
Programme:
HAIL! BRIGHT CECILIA
John Blow (ca. 1649–1708) Welcome, every guest
Henry Purcell (1659–1695) Remember not, Lord, our offences
Henry Purcell Hail! Bright Cecilia
- Symphony
- Coro: Hail! Bright Cecilia
- Duo: Hark each tree
- Aria: Tis Nature’s voice
- Coro: Soul of the world
- Aria con Coro: Thou tun’st this world
- Trio: With that sublime celestial lay
- Aria: Wondrous machine
- Aria: The airy violin
- Duo: In vain the am’rous flute
- Aria: The fife and all the harmony of war
- Duo: Let these amongst themselves contest
- Coro: Hail! Bright Cecilia
Organizers
