Oddly contoured instruments and hauntingly textured choral pieces are set to bring to Ballina some amazing sounds this coming Friday night, May 31st.
‘From Siege to Siege’ is a unique opportunity to hear 16th and 17th century music performed in St. Muredach’s Cathedral by one of Ireland’s finest choral groups, Resurgam.
Adding to the promise of stirring music that delves into the Renaissance and early Baroque period will be the accompaniment of The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, long time collaborators with Galway-based Resurgam.
Bestowed with perfect acoustics, the concert in St. Muredach’s Cathedral continues the recent trend of allocating this impressive 19th century building toward the provision of inspiring music for the general public.
The two groups will be joined by the esteemed St. Muredach’s Cathedral Choir under its director, Regina Deacy.
This specially curated concert in St. Muredach’s Cathedral is inspired by the Habsburg Empire, and is titled ‘From Siege to Siege’, recognising the constant battles that raged within the famous European empire.
Resurgam was founded in 2003 by Mark Duley, and is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed vocal ensembles. It is the premiere project-based professional choir in the country, and many of its singers have parallel careers as soloists. It inspires audiences and partner choirs the length and breadth of Ireland, bringing alive the emotional drama found in so much vocal music, especially that of the seventeenth century.
Resurgam’s hallmarks as a choir are clarity and transparency of sound, attention to text and emotive content, virtuosity in improvisation and ornamentation, colourful interplay of instrumental and vocal resources and textures, and imaginative and engaging programming.
The ‘From Siege to Siege’ concert programme follows the milestone battles of the 16th and 17th centuries, tracing the major lines of conflict and contact between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and presenting these points of meeting as musical and cultural confluences, as people and ideas moved throughout places and kingdoms in war and peace. During these centuries, the Habsburg monarchies seemed to have trouble brewing at nearly every edge of their vast empire, and must have indeed seemed to live from siege to siege. But the reward of contact and trade, and a focus on arts patronage, made this an era of thriving European musical activity.
London-based instrumental group the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble specialise in using period wind and brass instruments such as the sackbut and cornett. Among its members is Irish musician Conor Hastings.
Tickets for the Ballina concert are now available to buy on Eventbrite and the concert starts at 8pm. Visit https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/resurgam-english-cornett-sackbut-ensemble-siege-to-siege-in-ballina-tickets-895280176107?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
