Page 52 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year
P. 52
17 January 2019
The Sixteen: Monteverdi Vespers
Of 1610
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The Sixteen Tours brings this magnificent large-scale piece to Peterborough
Cathedral (2 Feb 2019)
Starting in February 2019 The choir and orchestra of The Sixteen will be transporting UK audiences to
the splendour of St Mark’s, Venice, through performances of Monteverdi’s rhythmically thrilling,
sonorous and large-scale Vespers of 1610. Cathedral choristers will participate in performances, there
will be a major education project with the Medway Music Hub and online resources will be available to
audience members.
About the music
Monteverdi is unlikely to have heard the Vespers in the complete form we know today. The music in
his original 1610 publication was intended to be used as a resource by choirmasters in the great
churches like St Mark’s in Venice or St Peter’s in Rome who might have used parts of it, depending on
the choral and instrumental forces they had at their disposal. Monteverdi offered performance options
with organ alone, to make it possible for this music to be as widely performed as possible. His strategy
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