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A List
12/5/05
SLU'S EARLY MUSIC ENSEMBLE TO PERFORM IN CONCERT
CANTON - "William Byrd and Friends" is the theme for St. Lawrence University's Early
Music Ensemble concert, to be performed on Sunday, December 11, at 2 p.m. in Gunnison
Memorial Chapel. The event is open to the public, free of charge.
This fall, the ensemble - directed by Director of Music Ensembles Barry Torres - has
focused on the music of Renaissance England. The concert centers on the work of the
great Elizabethan composer William Byrd (c. 1539-1623), both vocal and instrumental.
The Early Music Singers will perform Byrd's Mass for Four Voices. Although highly favored
by Queen Elizabeth, Byrd remained throughout his life a dedicated Roman Catholic and
suffered persecution in Protestant England. This work's sublime beauty attests to the
depth of his faith and the poignant setting of the words "Dona nobis pacem" (Grant us
peace), which close the piece, is one of the most moving passages in all of a cappella
vocal literature. The Singers will also present an anonymous setting of text from
St. Paul's letter to the Phillipians, "Rejoice in the Lord Alway" and Orlando
Gibbons' anthem "Almighty and Everlasting God."
The Early Music Players will begin the program with lively dances by Byrd's contemporary
Anthony Holborne. A variety of dances and consort music for three and six parts by Byrd
will be played on strings and recorders, as well as fantasias by Giovanni Coperario,
Orlando Gibbons and John Ward. In 16th-century England, purely instrumental music had
its first substantial flowering in Western European history. These remarkable works
are notable for their sonorous beauty, rhythmic fluidity and heartfelt geniality.
Deceptively simple, they are at the same time complex yet transparently clear in
structure. They were mostly composed for skilled amateur music-making, providing a
richly rewarding musical experience to player and listener alike.
The Early Music Ensemble - the Early Music Players and the Early Music
Singers - is a group of students, faculty and community members dedicated to the
performance of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. The Players perform on both
modern instruments and replica period instruments from the University's Romer Collection.
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Music Ensembles At St. Lawrence
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