5 Jan, 2019 @ 7 pm German Church, Unioninkatu 1, Helsinki
Utopia Chamber Choir, dir. Andrew Lawrence-King Tickets 15/20 € at the door.
Come to Utopia Chamber Choir’s Twelfth Night concert and experience the splendour William Byrd’s and Thomas Tallis’ music as it was heard in in the court of Queen Elizabeth I and English cathedrals in the 16th century! Our conductor in this concert is the world star of Renaissance music, harpist Andrew Lawrence-King.
William Byrd is one of the most interesting composers in English music history. He was a favorite and a protegé of Queen Elizabeth. He was also a devout catholic in a 16th century England where celebrating catholic mass was forbidden under pain of death. Only quite recently have we learnt to read the messages hidden in Byrd’s music to the faithful ones celebrating mass around the country. Thomas Tallis was William Byrd’s tutor and close friend, and also became his son’s godfather. Queen Elizabeth liked the two to the extent of granting them a monopoly, in 1573, for printing music.
The Queen herself led a life that leant towards catholicism and let her favorite composers do as they pleased. We believe that this concert would appeal very much to her taste – a reconstruction of how her preferred composers’ work would have sounded like in the period. You are warmly welcome to experience a twelfth-night musical journey!