A MedievalChristmas

On December 12th, the theme of the Consort's Medieval Christmas calls upon our Patron Dame Emma Kirkby to lead the Celestial Revelations - The Nine Choirs of Angels - Hildegard of Bingen. The concept of the celestial hierarchy occupies a central place in the theological and cosmological thought of Hildegard of Bingen. Her understanding of the structure of the heavens draws heavily upon the influence of the treatise On the Celestial Hierarchy, profoundly having shaped medieval Christian conceptions of the relationship between the divine and created worlds. Within Hildegard’s visionary theology, the cosmos is conceived as an ordered and harmonious system in which all beings participate in and reflect the divine order.

Paul Agnew and Daniel Taylor conduct an exceptional New Year ensemble of artists from the Toronto Consort, and the Schola Cantorum. Transcending liturgical propriety, this program features works setting texts ranging from the ecstatic to the apocalyptic, the sublime to the silence of mourning, the universal to the intensely personal.

With Draw On Sweet Night, the Toronto Consort and star tenor Blake Morgan (of VOCES8 fame) bring a new programme with what is probably the most beautiful English madrigals paired with music of today including music by Balfour, Taverner, and Whitacare. The title Draw On Sweet Night is taken from Shakespeare’s contemporary John Wilbye and depicts the onset of darkness with beguilingly delicate sounds. The repertoire of night songs ranges from the Venetian Renaissance composer Giovanni Croce to Thomas Tallis, to Kate Rusby, John Taverner, Eric Whitacre and, of course, Blake Morgan.

“A hymn to the art of perfection, the Rock Stars of Renaissance music…” – The Times, UK

Over five decades of performance and a catalogue of award-winning recordings for Gimell, Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars have done more than any other group to establish sacred vocal music of the Renaissance as one of the great repertoires of Western classical music.