A Cappella Wonders

Sistine Chapel picture: Wikimedia Commons

The Self-Isolation Choir presents: A Cappella Wonders - a choral course starting on 22nd February 2021 comprising 4 pieces of music in conjunction with the choral group Tenebrae. Under the direction of Nigel Short, Tenebrae will sing our backing tracks for the entire course and provide the teaching materials for our learning.

Nigel will be Course Director for Allegri’s Miserere and will teach us this piece in LIVE online sessions.

The pieces we are learning are as follows:

MISERERE - Allegri

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CRUCIFIXUS - Lotti

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IF YE LOVE ME - Tallis

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LOCUS ISTE - Bruckner

Allegri

Composed around 1638, Miserere was the last and most famous of twelve falsobordone settings used at the Sistine Chapel since 1514. At some point, it became forbidden to transcribe the music and it was only allowed to be performed at those particular services at the Sistine Chapel, thus adding to the mystery surrounding it.

According to the popular story, and backed up by family letters, fourteen-year-old Mozart was visiting Rome when he first heard MISERERE during the Wednesday service. Afterwards, he wrote it down entirely from memory, returning to the Chapel that Friday to make sure he had it correct. Only 3 months later, Mozart had gained fame for the work and was summoned back to Rome by Pope Clement XIV, who lavished praise on him for his feat of musical genius and awarded him the Chivalric Order of the Golden Spur on 4th July, 1770. Allegri's Miserere has become one of the most popular a cappella choral works now performed anywhere in the world.

It is written for two choirs, of five and four voices respectively, singing alternately and joining to sing the ending in 9-part polyphony. We shall learn the 8 minute version with Nigel Short and Tenebrae providing our backing tracks and learning materials.

This is Tenebrae’s beautiful rendition of Miserere, which became a viral sensation with over 10M views
(please note we are singing a different version to the one you see here on this shortened video)

Lotti

Lotti was born in Venice in 1667 and spent most of his musical life in the San Marco Cathedral. He died there in 1740 aged 73. Lotti wrote in a variety of forms, producing masses, cantatas, madrigals, around thirty operas, and instrumental music. Some of his sacred choral works are unaccompanied (a cappella) but many of them are composed in the concertato style with strings, basso continuo, and occasionally oboes and trumpets. His Crucifixus is a short piece of about 3 minutes in length, yet it offers melody and construction not dissimilar to Allegri’s Miserere.

Tallis

"If Ye Love Me" is a four-part motet or anthem by the English composer Thomas Tallis, a setting of a passage from the Gospel of John. First published in 1565 during the reign of Elizabeth I, it is an example of Tudor music and is part of the repertoire of Anglican church music. An early homophonic motet in English, it is frequently performed today, and has been sung at special occasions including a papal visit and a royal wedding.

Bruckner

Locus iste is a sacred motet composed by Anton Bruckner in 1869. Bruckner set it for four unaccompanied voices, intended for the dedication of the Votivkapelle (votive chapel) at the New Cathedral in Linz, Austria, where Bruckner had been a cathedral organist. It was the first motet that Bruckner composed in Vienna.

It has been written that “Locus iste is a hauntingly beautiful work reminiscent of the quiet chapel it honoured”

Course Directors

Nigel Short will teach us Allegri’s Miserere on our LIVE streaming platform from 22nd February to 27th February. We shall then invite you to record your own voice and send this to us. We shall combine all voices in the studio for a full SIC Concert with all our voices from Miserere and the other 3 pieces on 17th April 2021.

The rest of the course will be taken by Ben England BEM and all backing tracks for the Lotti, Tallis and Bruckner are recorded by Tenebrae.

Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), award-winning choir Tenebrae is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its passion and precision.

Under the direction of Nigel Short, Tenebrae has twice secured the award for Best Choral Performance in the BBC Music Magazine Awards (2012 and 2016), and its recording of Fauré’s Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra was nominated for the Gramophone Awards (2013). In 2018 Music of the Spheres, Tenebrae’s album of part songs from the British Isles, received a Grammy nomination.

Tenebrae is renowned for its highly-acclaimed interpretations of choral music ranging from the Renaissance through to contemporary choral masterpieces, and has appeared at major festivals and venues including the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Leipzig Gewandhaus (Germany) and Melbourne Festival (Australia).

How it Will Work

Ben will teach us these wonderful A Cappella Wonders before inviting us to record our own voices for each piece. We shall then combine all our voices in the studio for inclusion in an online Concert Performance.

The live sessions will take place on these dates (all at 17:00 UK time unless otherwise stated):

Week one: Allegri

22nd February - Course Launch

23rd February - Soprano 1 and Soprano 2 separate rehearsals

24th February - Alto rehearsal

25th February - Tenor rehearsal (at 18:00 UK time)

26th February - Bass rehearsal

27th February - Full choir rehearsal & invitation to record Allegri

Week two

1st March - Full choir rehearsal

2nd March - Soprano rehearsal

3rd March - Alto rehearsal

4th March - Tenor rehearsal

5th March - Bass rehearsal

Week three

8th March - Full choir rehearsal

9th March - Soprano rehearsal

10th March - Alto rehearsal

11th March - Tenor rehearsal

12th March - Bass rehearsal

13th March - Invitation to record Lotti, Tallis and Bruckner

28th March - Recording Deadline

17th April - CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Timings & Course Fee

The course will start on 22nd February 2021 with a Concert Performance on 17th April.

The course fee is £40 per person which includes:

Online scores for all pieces

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All the tuition from Ben and Nigel

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New recordings for this course by Tenebrae

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Recording materials

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Studio mixing

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Concert Premiere

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Montage picture of complete choir after the event

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MP3 files of the final mixed SIC tracks for you to keep

Please note: The Self-Isolation Choir has been careful to ensure there are minimal rehearsal clashes in 2021, however rehearsal and course times are subject to change.