Advent Concert
Our Lady and St. Michael's Catholic Church, Abergavenny
Sunday 9th December at 8:00pm
Thrilling sounds to herald the festive season.
Choir and brass join forces in sumptuous settings of Christmas favourites by such innovatory composers as Michael Praetorius and Giovanni Gabrieli.
A special feature of the concert will be the authentic sounds of Cornetts and Sackbutts offering us a blast from the past!
The redoubtable Unicorn Singers are to enjoy a particularly festive Christmas this year as they celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Joining forces with an authentic brass group of intriguingly-named sackbuts and cornetts, they will perform sumptuous settings of some good old Christmas favourites such as In Dulci Jubilo and Quem Pastores, composed at the turn of the 17th century. "These uplifting pieces are by the prolific Lutheran musical advocate, Michael Praetorius", explains director Stephen Marshall.
"Praetorius was a real workaholic and an enthusiastic advocate of Lutheran music, promoting it by publishing some 1,200 arrangements of popular chorales, many of which are the well known Christmas tunes still going strong today!"
The special feature of his vast output is its innovative use of instruments and choirs in various formations.
"The singers have been amazed at the wonderful kaleidoscope of sound here. There is everything from simple songs like Es ist ein' Ros ('A great and mighty wonder') to full-blown multi-choral concertos, where choir and brass are entangled in a mesmerising game of call and response. The fabulous acoustics of the Catholic Church will, I hope, provide an extra sonic spectrum to the whole experience."
Alongside Praetorius, there will be stunning music by Giovanni Gabrieli, the unequalled master of similar spatial harmonic effects at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
"This is all wonderfully infectious", claims Steve, "with some lively foot-tapping rhythms to get us into the Christmas spirit. Much of the music is rarely heard and so we hope that people will take this opportunity to hear it and start Christmas in a decidedly upbeat mood!"
Admission
Tickets £15, students free.
Available from choir members, at the door, or book in advance via theunicornsingers@gmail.com.