Upcoming Performances: Summer 2006
GATE OF THE MORNING: Sacred music of Guillaume Dufay
The pre-eminent composer of the 15th century, Guillaume Dufay did more than any other to usher in the Renaissance in music. His music defined the height of fashion and purity at courts and chapels across Europe for decades. Vox Populi presents Dufay's epochal Nuper rosarum flores sung for the consecration of the great Cathedral in Florence, motets in praise of the Virgin Mary, and the incomparable Missa Ave Regina coelorum.
Friday May 26
8 PM
St. Ann's Chapel
541 Melville Ave. (at Tasso)
Palo Alto, CA
Saturday May 27
8 PM
St. Mary Magdalen Church
2005 Berryman St. (at Henry)
Berkeley CA
Special appearance at the Berkeley Early Music Festival Fringe Series
Wednesday June 7
Wednesday June 7
6:00 P.M.
The Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea
2316 Bowditch Ave. (at Durant)
Berkeley CA
All venues are wheelchair accessible
Admission - $12 general / $10 students & seniors
For more information, contact (510) 843-3608
Recent Performances: Winter 2005
RESPLENDENT EXPECTATION: A Spanish celebration of the Immaculate Conception
Vox Populi performs Tomas Luis de Victoria's "Missa quam pulchri sunt", which was derived from his joyful motet setting of this verse from Song of Songs. Despite the sensual and provacative evocations made in the original text, "Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui" (trans. "How beautiful are your steps") was read and sung in homage to Mary on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8). This concert will also feature 16th century Spanish motets and plainchant composed in celebration of Mary, the Immaculate Conception and the Advent season, by Cristobal de Morales and contemporaries.
Saturday December 3
8 PM
The Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea
2316 Bowditch St. (entrance on Durant)
Berkeley, CA 94704
Admission free
Recent Performances: Summer 2005
Chant Transformed: Heinrich Isaac and the Mass at the Chapel of Maximilian I
The Emperor Maximilian I was one of the great Renaissance patrons of the arts, and the star in the firmament of musicians in his employ was Heinrich Isaac. Vox Populi presents a reconstruction of a Mass for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul as it might have been performed at the Imperial Chapel in Isaac's time. Centered on Isaac's Missa de Apostolis, supplemented with motets by Agricola and Richafort, this program explores Gregorian chant and its roles as both the foundation and inspiration for music in the Western Church.
Sunday July 24
4 PM
National Shrine of St Francis of Assisi
610 Vallejo at Columbus
San Francisco
admission: FREE
Recent Performances: Spring 2005
Mother and Son: Devotional music from 15th c. England
This short concert features the music of William Cornysh, all of which is found in the Eton Choirbook manuscript (compiled 1490-1502). The music in this manuscript is rarely heard today, but is wonderfully florid, resounding and virtuosic, taking full advantage of the incredible acoustic provided by the Gothic cathedrals built at the time. Cornysh's elaborate settings of the Salve Regina and Stabat Mater contrast acrobatic passages for solo voices with booming responses by a larger choir. His setting of the ancient devotional poem "Woefully Arrayed" is a plaintive, dramatic narration of the final sufferings of Christ.
The concert is preceded by the chanted litany for Compline, presented by the Compline Choir of St. Joseph of Arimathea (directed by Matthew Weber). The gregorian setting is sung in Latin by candlelight.
Saturday April 2
8 PM (program not much longer than an hour)
The Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea
2316 Bowditch Street (entrance on Durant)
Berkeley
admission: FREE
For more information, contact (510) 843-3608.
Chant Transformed: Heinrich Isaac and the Mass at the Chapel of Maximilian I
The Emperor Maximilian I was one of the great Renaissance patrons of the arts, and the star in the firmament of musicians in his employ was Heinrich Isaac. Vox Populi presents a reconstruction of a Mass for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul as it might have been performed at the Imperial Chapel in Isaac's time. Based on music from Isaac's Missa de Apostolis and the monumental Choralis Constantinus, this program explores Gregorian chant and its roles as both the foundation and inspiration for music in the Western Church.
Friday Nov 19
8 PM
St. Mary Magdalene Church
2005 Berryman St. (at Henry)
Berkeley CA
Saturday Nov 20
8 PM
St. Ann's Chapel
541 Melville Ave. (at Tasso)
Palo Alto, CA
All venues are wheelchair accessible
Donations appreciated at all concerts
$10 suggested donation
For more information, contact (510) 843-3608.
Recent performances: Winter 2003
Lux Aeterna: Ockeghem's Requiem
Vox Populi performs the luminous Requiem Mass by Johannes Ockeghem. The oldest extant polyphonic Requiem setting, Ockeghem's Requiem is a masterpiece of both limpid clarity and complex counterpoint. The Requiem is accompanied by motets honoring the dead, including Josquin's moving lament on the death of Ockeghem, the plangent Funeral Sentences by Morley and Purcell, and Lobo's incomparable "Versa est in luctum", written for the funeral of Philip II of Spain.
Friday Dec 5
8 PM
Saint Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church
500 De Haro Street (between Mariposa and 18th)
San Francisco, California
http://www.saintgregorys.org/
Friday Dec 12
8 PM
St. Mary Magdalene Church
2005 Berryman St. (at Henry)
Berkeley CA
Saturday Dec 13
8 PM
St. Ann's Chapel
541 Melville Ave. (at Tasso)
Palo Alto, CA
All venues are wheelchair accessible
Donations appreciated at all concerts
For more information, contact (510) 843-3608.
Recent performances: Spring 2003
How Fair Thou Art: Renaissance Songs of Love and Desire
In a celebration of love, Vox Populi presents a program featuring select madrigals from the Italian Renaissance, including masterpieces by Arcadelt, Rore, and Monteverdi. These expressive paeans to earthly desire are complemented by settings of the sensual biblical Song of Songs by Isaac, Gombert, Clemens, and Palestrina.
Friday, June 6, 8pm
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
1661 15th St (at Julian)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Main Phone: 415-861-1436
$10 suggested donation
Saturday, June 7, 8pm
Saint Mary's College Chapel
1928 St. Mary's Road
Moraga, CA 94575
(925) 631-4000
$10 suggested donation
Sunday, June 8, 4pm
Berkeley Art Museum
2626 Bancroft Way
phone number of museum (general info): 510-642-0808
Free with admission to museum
Last updated: November 11, 2005