What's On

The King’s Singers join forces with Gwilym Simcock (piano), Malcolm Creese (double bass) and special guest presenter Brian Kay for a musical tribute to two extraordinary artists who mastered the worlds of jazz and classical to great acclaim.

Arrangements and original works by both composers have become popular favourites with audiences across the world, and tonight’s performance includes music written especially for The King’s Singers, as well as arrangements of songs from the Great American Songbook including tracks from The King’s Singers/Shearing/Bennett hit album, Get Happy.

Sermons and Devotions

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012)

Lullaby of Birdland

George Shearing (1919-)

Songs and Sonnets

George Shearing (1919-)

Now is the month of Maying

Thomas Morley (1557/8-1602)

Get Happy

Harold Arlen (1905-1986)

William Byrd was the foremost English composer in the decades around 1600. Master of every genre he cultivated – from Anglican service music and lighthearted song to the Catholic Mass, his music is unmatched for sheer inventiveness, richness and depth of feeling. And his life story – with its tension between loyal service to the crown in public and adherence to the illegal Catholic faith in private – is endlessly fascinating, shedding light on the social and religious tensions of the time.

On the Feast of St Peter and St Paul (29 June) we sing Byrd’s grand settings of the Mass Propers which Byrd dedicated to his great patron, Lord Petre of Writtle, interleaved between the movements of his sublime Mass for Five Voices. From the Anglican tradition, we sing two magisterial movements from the Great Service and his zinging anthem, ‘Sing joyfully’. The concert is crowned by Byrd’s astonishing setting of Savonarola’s meditation on mortality, ‘Infelix ego’.

As her major new study of Byrd’s life and music is published by Oxford University Press, we are delighted to be joined by Dr Kerry McCarthy (Duke University), who will give a pre-concert talk about Byrd’s life and musical achievement. This is a rare chance to hear an international authority on Byrd. Kerry is a compelling speaker with an unrivalled knowledge of Byrd’s biography and music.

“Since singing is so good a thing I wish all men would learn to sing” – Byrd

6.15pm free pre-concert talk by Dr Kerry McCarthy

Venite from The Great Service

William Byrd (1543-1623)

Mass for 5 Voices

William Byrd (1543-1623)

Nunc scio vere from Propers from 'Gradualia', Volume II

William Byrd (1543-1623)

Infelix ego

William Byrd (1543-1623)

Sing joyfully unto God

William Byrd (1543-1623)

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra makes its long-awaited debut in Dundee under the baton of dynamic young conductor Gergely Madaras. The SCO performs Beethoven’s ever-popular Symphony No 3 ‘Eroica’, alongside music by Weiner and Ibert, with virtuosic SCO Principal Flute Alison Mitchell as soloist. A perfect summer evening’s entertainment!

Divertimento No 1

Leo Weiner (1885-1960)

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra

Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)

Symphony No 3 in E flat, 'Eroica'

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Bristol Baroque Soloists bring the sunlight of the Mediterranean to Clifton Cathedral with this wonderful violin and harpsichord lunchtime programme centred around Corelli's La Folia.

Originating on the Iberian Peninsular in the late Middle Ages, La Folia is a framework for improvisation - much like the Blues in jazz.

Corelli’s famous version of the melody and chord progressions was written in 1700, and its popularity has endured across Europe and beyond ever since. Music by Handel and Biber complete this beguiling programme.

Sonata for Violin and Continuo No 12 in F

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Sonata No 16 in G minor

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)

Concerto Grosso No 12, 'La folia'

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)