Our 2011/12 season begins in medieval Paris. The cathedral of Notre Dame is not only one of the most beautiful and famous churches in the world, but has been the heart and soul of sacred music in Europe since it was built. Pérotin – considered the patriarch of polyphonic choral music – was in the cathedral’s employ in the 12th century, and he laid the musical groundwork for the Franco-Flemish composers Machaut, Binchois, and Dufay who followed him. This school spawned the early Renaissance masters Ockeghem and Josquin, and, later still and further afield, the graceful High Renaissance perfection of Victoria and Palestrina. To this day, composers (including Arvo Pärt in the present day) continue to attribute inspiration to the early days of Notre Dame, and to the beatified Virgin of its name. Ethereal polyphony and harmonies spanning nearly a thousand years evoke the splendor of the Gothic age.

Purchase tickets:
http://www.clerestory.org/concerts

Program:

Beata Viscera - Pérotin (fl. c. 1200)
Ave Regina Coelorum Guillaume - Dufay (1397 – 1474)
Agnus Dei from Messe de Nostre Dame - Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 – 1377)

Riches d' Amour - Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 – 1377)
D'un Autre Amer - Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410 – 1497)
Virgo Rosa - Gilles Binchois (c. 1400 – 1460)
Rose, Liz, Printemps, Verdure - Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 – 1377)

Agnus Dei from Missa de Beata Virgine - Josquin Des Prez (c. 1450 – 1521)
Viderunt Omnes - Pérotin (fl. c. 1200)

—Intermission—

Alma Redemptoris Mater - Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 – 1611)
Stabat Mater - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)

Salut, Dame Sainte from Quatre Petit Prières de Saint François d' Assise - Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)
Tota Pulchra Es (a 4) - Maurice Duruflé (1902 – 1986)

Hymn to the Virgin - Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)
Most Holy Mother of God - Pärt (b. 1935)
Hymne à la Vierge - Pierre Villette (1926 – 1998)