The Renaissance Singers
Masters of Avila: Vivanco, Victoria, Ribera
The setting for the Office for Dead by Sebastián de Vivanco remained unpublished by the time its composer died in 1622. Surviving in two incomplete manuscript versions which have been newly combined in a critical edition by Jorge Martin, they are the first choir to commit this powerful work to disc: it is taut, dramatic and expressive – well deserving its place in the canon of Iberian Requiem settings.
Shortly after this concert the choir will sing the Requiem in Ávila Cathedral, where Vivanco had his musical training, with Spanish chant choir Schola Antiqua. And so for this programme they supplement the Missa pro defunctis with music by Vivanco's most celebrated near-contemporary, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and works by the man who taught both composers when they were choirboys at Ávila Cathedral: Bernardino de Ribera. Ribera's music is stupendously good and shows us the foundations of his pupils' craft.
While the overall mood of the music is one of mourning and lamentation, there is lightness too, with brightly rapt motets for Mary.
Sat, 28 March 2026
St Mary's Bourne Street, London
7:30pm
From £15 (conc. available)
Full Event Details
Join The Renaissance Singers, conducted by David Allinson, in celebrating a milestone in the choir's history: the worldwide release of their recording on Toccata Classics of Vivanco's Missa pro defunctis.
The setting for the Office for Dead by Sebastián de Vivanco remained unpublished by the time its composer died in 1622. Surviving in two incomplete manuscript versions which have been newly combined in a critical edition by Jorge Martin, they are the first choir to commit this powerful work to disc: it is taut, dramatic and expressive – well deserving its place in the canon of Iberian Requiem settings.
Shortly after this concert the choir will sing the Requiem in Ávila Cathedral, where Vivanco had his musical training, with Spanish chant choir Schola Antiqua. And so for this programme they supplement the Missa pro defunctis with music by Vivanco's most celebrated near-contemporary, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and works by the man who taught both composers when they were choirboys at Ávila Cathedral: Bernardino de Ribera. Ribera's music is stupendously good and shows us the foundations of his pupils' craft.
While the overall mood of the music is one of mourning and lamentation, there is lightness too, with brightly rapt motets for Mary.
Venue Details & Map
Location
St Mary's Bourne Street, London
Bourne Street, London SW1W 8JJ