Concert Review
Thank you to John Weins director and the singers of the Montreal Consort for yesterday's feast of choral polyphonic music “Gaude Gloriosa- music for a queen”
The Magnificent anthem “Gaude Gloriosa” by Tomas Tallis, written in honour of the Virgin Mary during the catholic reign of Mary Tudor, is a masterpiece of soaring melodies and rich harmonies. “Quomodo Cantabimus”, the words of psalm 137 set by William Byrd was superbly performed by the consort evoking the spirit of lament and penitence in the repeated falling phrases.
The striking work “Memento Mei” by Haraldur Vignir Sveinbjörnsson played with the acoustics of the cathedral in a dark and mysterious blend of voices and harmonies in an ethereal musical painting so similar to the music of Tallis with which we started, and yet, separated by 450 years, so very different.
The Magnificent anthem “Gaude Gloriosa” by Tomas Tallis, written in honour of the Virgin Mary during the catholic reign of Mary Tudor, is a masterpiece of soaring melodies and rich harmonies. “Quomodo Cantabimus”, the words of psalm 137 set by William Byrd was superbly performed by the consort evoking the spirit of lament and penitence in the repeated falling phrases.
The striking work “Memento Mei” by Haraldur Vignir Sveinbjörnsson played with the acoustics of the cathedral in a dark and mysterious blend of voices and harmonies in an ethereal musical painting so similar to the music of Tallis with which we started, and yet, separated by 450 years, so very different.