Song of Songs

It’s Palestrina’s 500th birthday and what better way to celebrate than by performing a selection of his rich Canticum Canticorum motets? Palestrina was not the only composer to take inspiration from the Old Testament’s Song of Songs texts, with their surprising focus on erotic love. These luscious texts provided many Renaissance composers in continental Europe with an amazing source of inspiration for some of their most expressive works. Our programme starts in Renaissance Italy before moving to Germany, whose early baroque composers revered the composers of the Italian Renaissance. Howard Skempton's Rise up, my love will also give us a refreshing contemporary take on our theme.