“The end of all good music is to affect the soul.” – Claudio Monteverdi
Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine of 1610 – more often known as the Monteverdi Vespers – is a piece of groundbreaking early 17th-century music in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary that lifts the soul with its emotional depth, sensuality and joy. Resonating down the ages, the music demonstrates the genius of a musician who was on his way to becoming maestro di capella at St Mark’s in Venice. In its time, it was unprecedented in scale, with seven solo singers, a chorus that divided into 10 parts and a colourful orchestra of strings, theorbos, cornetts and sackbuts. Much was left to the conductor to determine who sang or played what, as the movements wove their way between intimate, even erotic solo motets and opulent, dramatic choruses. For this vibrant midsummer concert, Bath Bach Choir is honoured to be joined by early music specialists I Fagiolini (director Robert Hollingworth) and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble for an authentic interpretation of this masterpiece of early Baroque expression.
I Fagiolini – Robert Hollingworth director
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Nigel Perrin conductor
Tickets £28 £25 £22 £15 £10
Concessions for children under 18 & students
Bath Box Office 01225 463 362
bathboxoffice.org.uk
In 2022 Bath Bach Choir is
celebrating the 75th anniversary
of its first concert in 1947
Monteverdi: Vespers
Saturday 2 July 2022
7.30pm | Bath Abbey
Bach: Mass in B minor
75th anniversary celebration concert
Saturday 5 November 2022
6.30pm (tbc) | Bath Abbey
Carols by Candlelight
21, 22 & 23 December 2022
7.30pm | The Pump Room, Bath
Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine of 1610 – more often known as the Monteverdi Vespers – is a piece of groundbreaking early 17th-century music in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary that lifts the soul with its emotional depth, sensuality and joy. Resonating down the ages, the music demonstrates the genius of a musician who was on his way to becoming maestro di capella at St Mark’s in Venice. In its time, it was unprecedented in scale, with seven solo singers, a chorus that divided into 10 parts and a colourful orchestra of strings, theorbos, cornetts and sackbuts. Much was left to the conductor to determine who sang or played what, as the movements wove their way between intimate, even erotic solo motets and opulent, dramatic choruses. For this vibrant midsummer concert, Bath Bach Choir is honoured to be joined by early music specialists I Fagiolini (director Robert Hollingworth) and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble for an authentic interpretation of this masterpiece of early Baroque expression.
I Fagiolini – Robert Hollingworth director
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Nigel Perrin conductor
Tickets £28 £25 £22 £15 £10
Concessions for children under 18 & students
Bath Box Office 01225 463 362
bathboxoffice.org.uk
In 2022 Bath Bach Choir is
celebrating the 75th anniversary
of its first concert in 1947
Monteverdi: Vespers
Saturday 2 July 2022
7.30pm | Bath Abbey
Bach: Mass in B minor
75th anniversary celebration concert
Saturday 5 November 2022
6.30pm (tbc) | Bath Abbey
Carols by Candlelight
21, 22 & 23 December 2022
7.30pm | The Pump Room, Bath