“You tend to close your eyes, so improbably beautiful is the polyphony of the ensemble,” wrote de Volkskrant after an earlier concert by this phenomenal British vocal ensemble.

For this concert, The Gesualdo Six joins forces with trumpeter Matilda Lloyd for a musical journey from darkness to dawn, in which works from the golden age of polyphony are mirrored with contemporary compositions.

At the center is O radiant dawn by James MacMillan, an intense setting from his Strathclyde Motets, in which hope and expectation become almost tangible. Also notable is Aura by Richard Barnard, commissioned in part by The Gesualdo Six, in which Lloyd’s trumpet sometimes rises as a radiant beacon above the ensemble, before seamlessly blending with the voices. Another highlight is Nunc Dimittis by Geoffrey Burgon, known as the closing music of the BBC series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979).

The concert opens with two vocal masterpieces from the English Renaissance by Thomas Tallis and Robert White, and music by Hildegard von Bingen also features.

Many of these works can also be heard on the 2024 album Radiant Dawn, which, like this concert, offers not only an almost meditative listening experience but also a rich survey of vocal ensemble artistry and innovative repertoire.

PROGRAM

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
O nata lux

Robert White (ca. 1538-1574)
Christe qui lux es et dies (II)

Alec Roth (1948)
Night Prayer

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
O gloriosissimi

Geoffrey Burgon (1941-2010)
Nunc dimittis

Judith Bingham (1952)
Enter Ghost

Richard Barnard (1979)
Aura

—- pause —-

Roxanna Panufnik (1968)
O Hearken

Deborah Pritchard (1977)
The Light Thereof

James MacMillan (1959)
O radiant dawn

Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505-1585)
Dum transisset Sabbatum

Owain Park (1993)
Sommernacht

Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Abendlied

James MacMillan (1959)
In splendoribus sanctorum