The Tallis Scholars’ Christmas Concert

Presented by Early Music Vancouver in partnership with the Chan Centre

Framed by two brilliant double choir settings of the Magnificat – one Spanish, the other German – this programme features the unforgettable setting of Osculetur me by Lassus. Taken from the Song of Songs, this fragrant and at times erotic text inspired one of Lassus’ greatest motets, which in turn inspired the double choir mass of the same title. The Flemish master is at his most persuasive in this music, deploying the eight voices with consummate skill and variation.

In the second half of the programme The Tallis Scholars continue their exploration of the contemporary composer Arvo Part with one of his finest motets, preceded by the sequence known as the Triodion. Part’s particular world of intense simplicity and calm is often said to resemble the mood of renaissance polyphony, and it is for this reason that the Tallis Scholars have begun to programme the two side by side. The evening ends with another extended sequence, this time of a strongly seasonal nature. Hieronymous Praetorius published his fifth tone Magnificat with two famous Christmas carols, “In Dulci Jubilo” and “Joseph Lieber”, interleaved between its verses. These works will be performed as he intended, bringing the concert to an end in a blaze of baroque glory.