Intimate Engagements concert: Fair Oriana

Sat 24 June 2023

Clare Hall

Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres are composed of three pieces to be performed for the liturgies of Holy Week. Each Latin verse, from the Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah, is preceded by a melisma on the first letter of the Hebrew text. The first two were composed for one single voice, while the third was written for two voices. This last Leçon, where the two voices perform superb appoggiatura, ornaments, dissonances and vocalising, is considered one of the undisputed peaks of Baroque vocal music. The songs by Purcell and Handel are well known and present a lighter, more secular side to the evening’s programme.

Programme:
Couperin – Leçons de ténèbres
Purcell – Morning Hymn, Evening Hymn, The Entrance of Night
Handel – Eternal Source of Light Divine, Hide me from day’s garish eye, As Steals the Morn O Sleep, why dost thou leave me

Angela Hicks and Penelope Appleyard, sopranos; Harry Buckoke, viola da gamba; Jonatan Bougt, theorbo; David Wright, harpsichord.

Cost: £5-£20