Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

A capella masterpieces inspired by birdsong

The Consort of Melbourne is a vocal ensemble that champions both historic and contemporary chamber vocal repertoire comprising a core membership of eight of Melbourne’s finest chamber singers under the direction of artistic director Steven Hodgson. Performing a capella with one singer per part, The Consort of Melbourne brings 1000 years of repertoire to life with an intimacy and verve that leaves audiences spellbound. Their programs include celebrated masterpieces heard alongside rarely-heard musical gems, exploring the full expressive potential of human voices combined.

Melbourne’s premier vocal ensemble performs a dazzling concert of a capella pieces inspired by birdsong. From Clément Janequin’s raucous Chant des oiseaux (Song of the birds) to Maurice Ravel’s sublime Trois beaux oiseaux (Three beautiful birds), this program flits from moments of delight and laughter to passages of poignant beauty in the blink of an eye. In the superb setting of the Melbourne Recital Centre Salon, hear how master composers throughout time have used glorious vocal harmonies to capture the colour and vitality of nature’s songsters.

Featuring the voices of: Katherine Norman, Kristy Biber, Miranda Gronow, Hannah Pietsch, Ben Owen, Douglas Kelly, Tom Goodwin and Jerzy Kozlowski. Directed by Steven Hodgson.

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and The Consort of Melbourne

Program

György Ligeti
Éjszaka és Reggel

Maurice Ravel
Trois chansons: Trois beaux oiseaux du paradis

Iain Grandage
Three Australian Bush Songs

Clément Janequin
Chant des oiseaux

Johannes Eccard
Hort ich ein Kuckuck singen

Ēriks Ešenvalds
Swans

Jacques Arcadelt/Orazio Vecchi
Il Bianco e dolce Cigno

Charles Villiers Stanford
The Bluebird

Edward Elgar
Owls

Peter Warlock
Corpus Christi carol

Felix Mendelssohn
Die Nachtigall

Featured non-Australian music: Ligeti, Ravel, Janequin, Eccard, Ešenvalds, Jacques Arcadelt/Orazio Vecchi, Charles Villiers Stanford, Elgar, Warlock, Mendelssohn

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on (03) 9699 3333

Featured Australian Works

Featured artists

• Performer The Consort of Melbourne