The Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch, 552 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10024

Church entrance is on West 87th Street

$25 – General Admission; $15 - Students & Seniors & Early Music America (EMA) Members

Performers:

John Bradley - Director

Natasha Badillo, Rachel Bazaz, Kristin Luchtman, Nancy Temple - Soprano

Ann Berkhausen, Johanna Bronk, June Severino Feldman - Alto

Warren Blyden, Paul Nelson, John Shumway, Wayne Wright - Tenor

Dan Cook, James Middleton, Michael Peppard - Bass

Program:

This November, Polyhymnia celebrates 15 years of music-making:  From the ensemble’s humble beginnings in the West Village to artistic triumphs at venues in the world beyond New York, certain pieces have gained a special place in their hearts.  Join them for an evening of music chosen by the performers as their favorites, drawn from our concerts over the years and titled in honor of the group’s namesake, Polyhymnia, the ancient Greek patroness of sacred music.  From the tender intimacy of Victoria’s beloved O magnum mysterium and the sensual elegance of Clemens Non Papa’s Ego flos campi  to the splendid profusion of Tallis’ Loquebantur variis linguis, Polyhymnia offers a musical feast of Renaissance masterpieces.

A proper feast follows the concert-- a Gala Reception in honor of Polymnia’s fifteenth anniversary!

Loquebantur variis linguis                                                                                     Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

If ye love me                                                                                                                                          Tallis

Sing Joyfully                                                                                                          William Byrd (1540-1623)

Eterne laudis lilium                                                                                             Robert Fayrfax (1464-1521)

Regina Coeli                                                                                       Pierre de Manchicourt (c. 1510-1564)

Ego flos campi Jacobus                                                                              Clemens non Papa(c. 1510-1556)

Magi veniunt                                                                                                                      Clemens non Papa

Tota Pulchra                                                                                                Nicolas Gombert (c.1495-1560)

Pater peccavi                                                                                           Thomas Crecquillon (c.1505-1557)

                                                                        Intermission

Victimae paschali laudes                                                                                 Adrian Willaert (c. 1490-1562)

O quam suavis est                                                                                           Giovanni Gabrieli (1544-1612)

Angeli, archangeli                                                                                            Heinrich Isaac (c. 1450-1517)

Tota pulchra                                                                                                Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)

O Magnum mysterium                                                                          Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 -1611)

Ave Regina Caelorum                                                                       Juan Gutierrez de Padilla (c.1590-1664)

Regina Caeli                                                                                                                                     Gombert

About the Ensemble:

Polyhymnia is a small ensemble of singers and instrumentalists focusing on historically informed performance of sacred music from the courts and cathedrals of the Renaissance world. The singers that comprise the ensemble are drawn from many sources, including some of the finest church choirs in New York. Past and present members have sung with Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Saint Luke in the Fields and Holy Apostles. Originally artists-in-residence at Saint John’s in
the Village, the ensemble moved to its current home at Saint Ignatius of Antioch in 2003, when the ensemble and its audience outgrew its original home.

Currently producing three concerts a year in New York, Polyhymnia has also made a name for itself at performances in Boston as a popular entry in the Boston Early Music Festival fringe events, and has
been the guest choir at a number of special events, most notably the centenary celebrations of Holy Cross Monastery, in Westpark, NY.

Since 2000, director John Bradley has been creating original editions of music for the ensemble, some of it secreted in manuscript collections since the 16th-century. Working in concert with libraries, liturgical historians and institutions, Polyhymnia hopes to both preserve and reintroduce choral
masterworks of the Renaissance and early Baroque in ways that both entertain and elucidate. In addition to the concert series, the ensemble’s unique relationship with Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a forerunner in the preservation of historical liturgy, provides opportunities to perform Renaissance and Baroque music in a liturgical context, while fostering musical artistry and scholarship in these interdependent disciplines.

Since its formation in 1994, Polyhymnia has amassed a vast repertoire performed in both traditional concerts as well as historical liturgical reconstructions. Mr. Bradley has reconstructed several liturgies, from Seville, Imperial Germany and Tudor England, which have included works by both well known composers like Lassus and Palestrina, and a wide array of unjustly neglected composers including Aston, Clemens non Papa, Crecquillon, de Rore, Fayrfax, Gombert, Porta, Vaet and Willaert.

This concert is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. Both programs are administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

For more information, please visit: www.polyhymnia-nyc.org