In a performance never before attempted, on Saturday, November 23 Cantemus Music and the Occasional Consort will combine to sing works by Vivaldi and Lotti, reproducing sounds that might have been heard on St Cecilia’s day in Venice in the early eighteenth century – St Cecilia being the patron saint of music.
Vivaldi was the musical director of La Pieta, an orphanage for illegitimate children, often born to sex workers. The girls were trained as musicians and the boys sent out to work the land. This created an all female choir – even the tenors and basses were women.
The programme will include an all male mass written by the organist at St Marks at the time, Antonio Lotti, as well as an all female performance of a Vespers sequence by Vivaldi. Bells and plainsong will add atmosphere and authenticity.
Monteverdi and Correlli were massive sources of inspiration for Vivaldi who is perhaps best known for his instrumental “Four Seasons” which still brings in audiences after nearly 300 years.
However this concert will reveal his genius in an altogether different setting and promises to be a truly unique occasion.
Admission is free, doors open at 7pm at Christchurch, London Road, St Leonards, with the entrance in Silchester Road. Refreshments will be available.
Image Credits: Cantemus Music / Facebook .