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SUMMARY:Fires of Faith Music of the English Reformation with a pre-concert
  talk by Dr Kerry McCarthy
DTSTART:20251018T170000Z
DTEND:20251018T203000Z
DTSTAMP:20260703T071407Z
UID:12317772025-10-18 17:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:Our programme is inspired by a fleeting\, audacious moment of 
 musical sabotage. In May 1538\, during a service in St George’s Chapel W
 indsor\, one of the professional singers\, Robert Testwood\, took it upon 
 himself to amend the text of the votive antiphon he was singing: Lauda viv
 i Alpha et O by Robert Fayrfax. During an exposed section of the music he 
 pointedly\nreversed the meaning of the Latin text\, to deny that the Virgi
 n Mary was redeemer and saviour (‘redemptrix et saluatrix’). This prem
 editated act of artistic vandalism exposes for us the doctrinal\, politica
 l and social tensions which shaped the sacred music that survives\nfrom th
 is time\, and which had very real consequences for all involved: Testwood 
 himself would go on to die at the stake in 1543\, one of the so- called Wi
 ndsor Martyrs. \nDrawing on recent research by distinguished musicologist 
 Dr Kerry McCarthy\, our programme navigates the musical and doctrinal mine
 field of\nthe mid-16th century. Aside from Fayrfax’s magnificent music\,
  we shine a light on Testwood’s\nreform-minded colleague at Windsor\, Jo
 hn Merbecke. His immense antiphon O Domine Jesu Christe sounds like a conv
 entional early Tudor Catholic work yet its text contains nothing to troubl
 e a reformer. And we\nsing the simple chant melodies he published for the 
 new Anglican rite. We see musicians including Tallis and Sheppard reaching
  for solutions in the new genre of the English anthem\, while still honour
 ing the native\npolyphonic tradition. And\, to counterbalance the heartfel
 t simplicity of Sheppard’s anthems\, we sing his Gaude Virgo Christipara
 \, a six-voiced motet to the Virgin which was almost certainly sung at Dur
 ham Cathedral in late 1569 during a brief bout of rapidly-suppressed Maria
 n devotion. \nPre-concert talk by Kerry McCarthy. We are delighted that Dr
  Kerry McCarthy will be with us in person on the\nevening of the concert\,
  giving a pre-concert talk putting the music into context. The talk will b
 egin at 6.15pm and last about 45 minutes and is included in the price of y
 our ticket.  \nDoors for the talk open at 6pm\, and for\nthe concert short
 ly after 7pm.
GEO:-0.154452;51.491769
LOCATION:St Mary's\, Bourne Street
URL:https://www.renaissancesingers.com/
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