The Voices of Our Ancestors
The Voices of Our Ancestors is a 2014 work for narrator, chorus, brass, and organ by Thea Musgrave that sets the creation hymn from the Rigveda, an ancient Sanskrit verse dating in its written form from 1500-1200 B.C., and 11 other poems translated from almost as many languages. The Scottish-born Musgrave, who has lived in the US since 1972, celebrates her centenary in 2028.
The program begins with selections of medieval polyphony and works by Josquin des Prez and Adrian Willaert from the Medici Codex of 1518. (Within view of the audience is a tapestry commissioned by Pope Leo X, who also commissioned the Medici Codex as a wedding gift to his nephew.)
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2027 at 7:30 PM
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Musica Sacra Chorus
Musica Sacra Brass
Kent Tritle, conductor
St. Martial: Victimae Paschali laudes
Worcester Fragments: Gloria-Spiritus procedens a Patre (arr. Denis Stevens)
From the Medici Codex of 1518 commissioned by Pope Leo X
Josquin des Prez: Inviolata et integra est
Adrian Willaert: Regina Caeli Laetare
Thea Musgrave: The Voices of Our Ancestors
The Creation Hymn
Time
The Royal Crown
From the Sacred Book
Inscription on the City of Brass
You will die
The Gift of Speech
Dido’s Lament
The Desolate City
Age
Let us drink
The Song of the Hunter
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Programming, dates and guest artists subject to change.