Prima le Parole e Poi la Musica
Monteverdi's magic with music and words
Saturday 11 August 2012, 10:00 - 16:00
St John's Hyde Park [ map ]
Hyde Park Crescent
London W2 2QD
Orlando Chamber Choir
Richard Wilberforce, director
Which comes first: the music or the words? Orlando Chamber Choir’s summer workshop explores this question in a day of choral music by Claudio Monteverdi. In his Fifth Book of Madrigals Monteverdi distinguishes two musical streams: the prima prattica, in which the music underlines the text, and the seconda prattica, in which the text determines the musical lines. The workshop will show how his development from prima to seconda prattica resulted in an increased vividness of musical drama and emotion, eventually driving 17th century composition from late Renaissance to early baroque.
Prima le Parole is open to all choral singers but sight-reading skills are a prerequisite. Tickets are available by advance booking only.
