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Christmas to Candlemas: Iberia (2012)

Concert 5: Saturday 8 December at 8.00 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription Concert 5 The Portuguese composer Duarte Lobo is a newcomer to Ensemble Gombert’s repertoire. His Christmas responsories were published in Read the rest

J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion (2011)

Sunday 17 April 2010, 2 pm Melbourne Recital Centre, 31 Sturt Street. Southbank Conducted by Jeremy Summerly (Royal Academy of Music, London) with a period instrument ensemble led by Rachel Beesley and featuring Ensemble Gombert, Read the rest

A Tudor Lent (2011)

Saturday 12 March at 8 pm Xavier College Chapel Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription Concert 1 The discovery, in 1571, of the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2010)

Saturday, 11 December 2010, 8pm Xavier College, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 Our annual Christmas to Candlemas takes various shapes, at times presenting a miscellany, at other times focussing on a single composer. To Read the rest

The School of Palestrina (2010)

Saturday, 11 September 2010, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 The language of Palestrina so suited the ideals of the Counter- Reformation that his style became synonymous with Roman Catholic polyphony Read the rest

Brumel’s “Earthquake” Mass (2010)

Saturday, 17 April 2010, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 2 The challenge of writing many polyphonic lines without forbidden consecutive unisons, fifths or octaves was something that Renaissance composers relished. Most Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2009)

Saturday, 12 December 2009, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 After two Venetian Christmas celebrations we return to our High Renaissance fare. Three years ago we performed Mouton’s Christmas motet Read the rest

North America Tour Concert (2009)

Tour Concert Memorial Church, Stanford Univeristy, California, USA 22 September 2009 Josquin Desprez – Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria Jean Mouton – Quis dabit oculis nostris Nicolas Gombert – Hodie nobis caelorum Rex Thomas Tallis – Loquebantur Read the rest

Voices of our Time (2009)

Saturday, 12 September 2009, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 With Barber, Carter and Lauridsen we make our first foray into American music. Barber’s wonderful 1938 setting of Gerard Manley Read the rest

Jean Mouton, French royal composer (2009)

Saturday, 7 March 2009, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 1 This concert commemorates the French composer Jean Mouton some 550 years after his birth. The first part of the program is Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2008)

Saturday, 13 December 2008, 8 pm Xavier College Chape, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 This is not the celebrated Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, but a selection of vespers music from his large 1640 compilation. Read the rest

Lassus: Prophecies & Tears (2008)

Saturday, 24 May 2008, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 The compositional output of the prolific Lassus includes many cycles — for example, the Sacrae lectiones novem ex propheta Iob, Read the rest

German Baroque a cappella (2007)

Saturday, 8 September 2007, 8pm. Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 The Baroque, by and large, was not a period of a cappella writing: most choral works involved at least a continuo Read the rest

Taverner to Tavener (2007)

Saturday, 4 August 2007, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 The English choral repertory, it seems, is always in fashion. Representing the Golden Age is Mundy’s intricate Vox Patris caelestis, sandwiched Read the rest

German Baroque Masterpieces (2006)

Saturday, 9 September 2006, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 Michael Praetorius was of the opinion that music had reached its perfection in his day amongst Protestant German composers (presumably himself Read the rest

Sacred Gems of the 20th Century (2006)

Saturday, 4 March 2006, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 1 In recent years Ensemble Gombert has presented several of the major a cappella works of the 20th century, notably the Australian Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2005)

Saturday, 10 December, 2005, 8pm St Ambrose Church, Woodend Saturday, 17 December 2005, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 For over four centuries Palestrina’s music has been singled out by Read the rest

Richafort & his Parodists (2005)

Saturday, 10 September 2005, 8 pm. Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 Parody was a major sixteenth-century compositional technique, especially in the setting of the Mass. The composer would take as a Read the rest

Music for Charles V (2005)

Saturday, 16 July 2005, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was not only a great monarch but also a great patron of music. Gombert, Crecquillon, Clemens Read the rest

Thomas Tallis: A Quingentennial Celebration (2005)

Saturday, 28 May 2005, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 2 We are ignorant of the exact date of Thomas Tallis’s birth, but circa 1505 has long been accepted, and half a Read the rest

Canon of Repentance (2005)

Saturday, 19 March 2005, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 1 This is the first Australian performance of Arvo Pärt’s most recent large-scale choral work, commissioned for the 750th anniversary of Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2004)

Saturday, 18 December 2004, 8pm Sunday, 19 December 2004, 2.30pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 Finally, this year’s Christmas to Candlemas features, in addition to a selection of Renaissance works, Benjamin Read the rest

Brahms Motets & Beethoven 9th Symphony (2004)

Sunday, 14 November 2004, 2.30pm Hawthorn Town Hall, Burwood Road, Hawthorn The Mozart Collection 2004 presented by The Academy of Melbourne PROGRAM Johannes Brahms Motets Op. 74, No.1 & Op. 109 [performed by Ensemble Gombert] Read the rest

Motets for Good Queen Bess (2004)

Saturday, 6 November 2004, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 Concert 4 consists of 21 items from the Cantiones sacrae published by Thomas Tallis and William Byrd in 1575. Each contributed Read the rest

Paragons of Polyphony (2004)

Saturday, 17 July 2004, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 Concert 3 is a repeat of our very first subscription program from March 1995, a smorgasbord of polyphony from the Read the rest

Double-Choir Favourites of Five Centuries (2004)

Saturday, 15 May 2004, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 2 Concert 2 is made up of double-choir works old and new. Following the success of our venture into Brahms in 2003 Read the rest

Franco-Flemish Pearls (2004)

Saturday, 6 March 2004, 8pm, Loreto Chapel, Ballarat Saturday 13 March 2004, 8 pm, Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 1 Our first concert focusses on the Franco-Flemish repertoire of the generation of Josquin Desprez. Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2003)

Saturday 13 December 2003, 8 pm Sunday 14 December 2003, 2.30 pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 Our Christmas to Candlemas program commences in twentieth-century France with Poulenc’s four motets for Read the rest

Motets of Bach & Brahms (2003)

Friday 7 November, 8 pm, St Ambrose Church, Woodend Saturday 8 November, 8 pm, Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 4 In our fourth concert you can hear all Brahms’ motets as well as two Read the rest

Spanish Renaissance Gems (2003)

Saturday, 13 September 2003, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 3 PROGRAM Cristóbal de Morales Gaude et laetare ferrariensis civitas Cristóbal de Morales Lamentabatur Jacob Francisco Guerrero Ave virgo sanctissima Francisco Guerrero Salve regina Read the rest

English Polyphony Old & New (2003)

Saturday, 8 March 2003, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 1 Concert 1 balances Tallis and Byrd in Lenten vein with Rubbra’s festive Lauda Sion and Vaughan Williams’ much-loved Mass in G Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2002)

Saturday, 14 December 2002, 8pm Sunday, 15 December 2002, 2.30pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 5 Our annual carol-free Christmas concert is this year devoted to Lassus, recognized as the greatest master Read the rest

Vivaldi Magnificat & Gloria (2002)

Sunday, 8 December 2002. Hawthorn Town Hall, Hawthorn The Mozart Collection Presented by The Academy of Melbourne PROGRAM Jeremiah Clarke Prince of Denmark’s March GF Handel Eternal Source of Light Divine GF Handel Let Read the rest

Three Renaissance Roberts (2002)

Saturday, 7 September 2002, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 Two of these Roberts were certainly Scottish, while the birth place of Wylkynson is not known. The latter’s resplendent nine-voice Salve Read the rest

Music for Saint Peter (2002)

Saturday, 29 June 2002, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 Saint Peter, Prince of Apostles and first Bishop of Rome, has been well celebrated in music. The highlight of this program Read the rest

Music of the Sistine Chapel (2002)

Saturday, 2 March 2002, 8pm Xavier College Chapel,  Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 1 The Sistine Chapel, private chapel of the Pope, has attracted some of the finest composers of liturgical music over the ages, Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (2001)

Saturday, 15 December 2001, 8pm Sunday, 16 December 2001, 2.30pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 4 Our annual carol-free Christmas concert is a Renaissance feast spanning Europe and the sixteenth century. Cipriano Read the rest

Comme femme desconfortée (2001)

Saturday, 19 May 2001, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 Binchois would not have had an inkling that his chanson Comme femme desconfortée was destined for greatness. But once one Renaissance Read the rest

Lagrime di San Pietro (2001)

Saturday, 7 April 2001, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 2 The compositional output of the prolific Lassus includes many cycles: for example, the Prophetiae Sibyllarum, the Sacrae lectiones novem ex propheta Read the rest

Hommage à Gombert (2001)

Saturday, 24 February 2001, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 1 Renaissance composers frequently re-fashioned the musical material of motets or chansons into settings of Mass or Magnificat. A composer might make Read the rest

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (2000)

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Parts 1-3 Friday 1 December 2000, 8 pm Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Parts 4-6 Saturday 2 December, 2000, 8 pm Sacred Heart Church, Grey St, St Kilda Melbourne Early Music Festival in Association Read the rest

Bach’s Magnificat & Ascension Oratorio (2000)

Saturday 29 July 2000 at 8.15pm Sunday 309 July 2000 at 6.16pm Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University. Bach 250 Commemoration Melbourne Early Music Festival in association with Monash University PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concertos Read the rest

Bach’s Mass in B Minor (2000)

Friday, 28 July 2000, 8.45 pm (marking the time and date of Bach’s death) St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne Bach 250 Commemoration Melbourne Early Music Festival in association with Monash University PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach Read the rest

Ave Maria : Marian Motets by Josquin Desprez (2000)

Saturday, 3 June 2000, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Series Concert 3 Marian music accounts for a large percentage of the output of most Renaissance composers. Favourite texts are the Propers associated with Read the rest

Motets of Johann Sebastian Bach (2000)

Sunday, 14 May 2000, 2pm. Gold Treasury Museum, Spring St, Melbourne. PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach Komm, Jesus, komm Johann Sebastian Bach Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf Johann Sebastian Bach Jesu, meine Freude Johann Sebastian Read the rest

Music for Many Voices (2000)

Saturday, 13 May 2000, 8 pm. Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Series Concert 2 The challenge of writing many polyphonic lines without forbidden consecutive unisons, fifths or octaves was something that Renaissance composers relished. Most Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (1999)

Tuesday 14 December 1999, 8pm Wednesday 15 December 1999, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 5 PROGRAM Tomás Luis de Victoria  O magnum mysterium Tomás Luis de Victoria Quem vidistis, pastores? Heinrich Isaac Read the rest

Three High Renaissance Requiems (1999)

Tuesday, 9 November 1999, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 4 Settings of the Requiem tend to be high points in composersÕ outputs. Often the setting has been written in memory of a Read the rest

Lassus and his Heritage (1999)

Tuesday, 14 September 1999, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 3 Lassus, not Palestrina, was considered by his contemporaries to be the outstanding composer of his generation. He was certainly the most versatile, and Read the rest

Joy and Sorrow in Baroque Germany (1999)

Friday, 3 September 1999, 8 pm Sacred Heart Church, Grey St, St Kilda Melbourne Early Music Festival PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Cantata 51) Johann Sebastian Bach Fürchte dich nicht Heinrich Read the rest

Glories of English Polyphony (1999)

Saturday, 17 April 1999, 8 pm St John’s Anglican Church, Sorrento Sorrento Subscription Concerts (Oz Classique Concerts) Tuesday, 20 April 1999, 8 pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew. Subscription Concert 1 PROGRAM Robert Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (1998)

Tuesday 15 December 1998 at 8pm Wednesday 16 December at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription Concert 5 PROGRAM Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Dies sanctificatus a 4 Lapidabant Stephanum a 4 Hic est Read the rest

J.S Bach St John Passion (1998)

Tuesday 15 September 1998 St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne Melbourne Early Music Festival With Concentus Australis PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach St John Passion Gerald English, Evangelist Margaret Pearce, Soprano David V Russell, Alto Read the rest

Florentia/Firenze: home of the Medici (1998)

Tuesday 9 June 1998 Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription Concert 3 PROGRAM Guillaume Dufay(c. 1400-1474) Nuper rosarum flores Mirandas parit haec urbs florentina Salve flos Tuscae gentis Florentia Heinrich Isaac  (c. 1450-1517)  Read the rest

Music at the Court of Ercole I of Ferrara (1998)

Tuesday, 12 May 1998 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert 2 PROGRAM Jacob Obrecht Mille quingentis Johannes Martini Salve regina Josquin Desprez Virgo salutiferi Josquin Desprez Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie Josquin Desprez Huc Read the rest

Gesualdo Responsoria (1998)

Tuesday, 31 March 1998 Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription Concert 1 PROGRAM Carlo Gesualdo, Principe di Venosa Responsoria (1611) Feria Quinta: 9 Responsoria Interval (10 minutes) Feria Sexta: 9 Responsoria Interval ( 10 Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (1997)

Tuesday 16 December 1997 at 8pm Wednesday 17 December 1997 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Series Concert No 5 PROGRAM Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina O magnum mysterium a 5 Tomás Luis Read the rest

Gaudeamus: Music for All Saints (1997)

Tuesday 11 November 1997 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Series Concert No 4 PROGRAM Heinrich Isaac Gaudeamus omnes Josquin Desprez Missa Gaudeamus John Taverner Audivi vocem de caelo John Sheppard Audivi vocem de Read the rest

Schubert Mass in G (1997)

Saturday  20 September 1997 Hawthorn Town Hall, Burwood Road, Hawthorn The Academy of Melbourne concert series PROGRAM Christopher Willcock Night Thoughts Franz Schubert Mass in G, D.167 Franz Schubert Ninth Symphony, D.944 Singers unknown   Read the rest

Tallis to Britten: Four centuries of a cappella English music (1997)

Tuesday, 27 May 1997 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Series Concert No 3 PROGRAM Thomas Tallis Incipit lamentatio Robert Parsons Ave Maria William Byrd Quomodo cantabimus? Thomas Morley De profundis Thomas Read the rest

Victimae Paschali : Music for Eastertide (1997)

Tuesday 29 April 1997 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Series Concert No 2 PROGRAM Gregorian chant Victimae paschali laudes Mozarabic chant Gaudete populi Heinrich Isaac Resurrexi Adrian Willaert Victimae paschali laudes Nicolas Read the rest

MIFOH recital (1997)

Sunday 30 March 1997 St Mary’s Star of the Sea, Victoria St, West Melbourne Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord PROGRAM Johannes Ockeghem Requiem Johannes Brahms Opus 29, Opus 74 and Opus 110 motets Read the rest

Johannes Ockeghem: a quingentennial tribute (1997)

Tuesday 11 March 1997 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Series Concert No 1 PROGRAM Johannes Ockeghem Missa My my Kyrie – Gloria – Credo – Sanctus – Agnus Dei Antoine Busnois In hydraulis Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (1996)

Tuesday 17 December 1996 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription series concert 5 PROGRAM Nicolas Gombert  Hodie nobis caelorum Rex Clemens non Papa  O magnum mysterium Heinrich Isaac  Puer natus est Read the rest

Venice Revered (1996)

Sunday 22 September 1996 Sacred Heart Church, St Kilda Melbourne Early Music Festival PROGRAM Giovanni Gabrieli Nunc dimittis Giovanni Gabrieli Buccinate in neomenia tuba Giovanni Gabrieli Jubilate Deo Michael Praetorius Resonet in laudibus Michael Praetorius Read the rest

Media Vita (1996)

Tuesday 27 August 1996 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew Subscription Concert 3 PROGRAM Nicolas Gombert  Regina caeli laetare a 12 Nicolas Gombert O beata Maria a 5 Nicolas Gombert  Magnificat octavi toni Read the rest

Hommage a Gombert (1996)

Tuesday 21 May 1996, 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription series concert 2 PROGRAM Nicolas Gombert Regina caeli laetare a 12 Nicolas Gombert O beata Maria a 5 Nicolas Gombert Magnificat octavi toni a Read the rest

Crucifixus (1996)

Tuesday, 26 March 1996 Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Rd, Kew Subscription series concert 1 PROGRAM Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594) Hymnus: Vexilla regis a 6 Nicolas Gombert (c.1495-c.1560) Super flumina Babylonis a 4 Josquin Desprez (c.1440-1521) Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (1995)

Tuesday, 19 December 1995 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert PROGRAM Josquin Desprez Praeter rerum seriem William Byrd Pro Adventu William Byrd Rorate caeli desuper William Byrd Atollite portas William Byrd Ave Maria, Read the rest

Monteverdi Vespers (1995)

Saturday 11 November 1995 Sunday 12 November 1995 Foyer, 101 Collins Street, Melbourne Collins Street Grand Music Promenade PROGRAM Claudio Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 Singers unknown Tenor: Gerald English REVIEW Tuesday, 14 December 1995, The Read the rest

Five Franco-Flemish Masters (1995)

Tuesday, 19 September 1995 at 8pm Xavier College Chapel, Kew Subscription Concert PROGRAM Johannes Ockeghem  Kyrie & Gloria from Missa Caput Josquin Desprez   Nymphes des bois Josquin Desprez Planxit autem David Josquin Desprez Benedicta es, Read the rest

Christmas to Candlemas (1994)

Tuesday 20 December 1994, 8pm Xavier College, Barkers Road, Kew PROGRAM Program details taken from newspaper review (below) Robert Fayrfax Magnificat Regale Jean Mouton Nesciens mater ? Nesciens mater Nicolas Gombert O magnum mysterium William Read the rest

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