Music in honour of three English Queens

 September 21, Wednesday, 7 pm, Palace of the Grand Dukes, Katedros a. 4

Project director Marco Vitale (Italy / Poland)

Brevis Choir and ensemble Contrasto armonico (Italy, Spain, Poland, Lithuania)

This program, inspired by the first phrase of the United Kingdom’s National Anthem, focuses on three queens of England, all of whom made a significant contribution to the Kingdom’s musical landscape. The first is Mary I, from the House of Tudor, who reinstated Catholicism in England. These changes had a distinct impact on music, not least from William Byrd who was a particular contributor to its dynamism. The second queen is Mary II, whose role was very important in the life of Henry Purcell. The third is Elizabeth I, during whose reign new worlds were discovered, the country’s economy flourished, and meanwhile her palace drew in poets, musicians, writers and scientists from afar.

In Shakespeare’s times, a tension between Catholicism and Anglicanism already existed in society. Researchers continue to search even today for evidence of whether he was a Catholic or not, but still to no avail... This concert’s program invites audiences on a journey across several different genres of English music, created by composers who had to work in accordance with the monarchy's credo of the day.