Chineke! Voices: The music of Vincente Lusitano

Programme

Lusitano– Beati omnes qui timent Dominum
Lusitano– Hic est Michael Archangelus
Lusitano– Emendemus
Lusitano– Ave Spes Nostra
Lusitano– O Beata Maria
Lusitano– Regina Coeli
Lusitano– Quid Montes, Musae?
Lusitano– Salve Regina
Lusitano– Inviolata, integra et casta es

And music by Gombert and Josquin des Prez.

Performers

Chineke! Voices
Joseph McHardy Director

Chineke! Voices is a vocal ensemble comprising some of the world’s leading singers who tonight give us a unique opportunity to hear the works of one of the first known composers in the history of classical music of African descent: the 16^th-century Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano (1520-1561). His music survives in manuscript, rarely heard or performed but lovingly researched and edited for this concert by Joseph McHardy.

Lusitano was born in Portugal and worked as a composer and theorist in both there and in Italy. This is no token rehabilitation of a forgotten composer. Studies of Lusitano’s music show its eminence, with luxurious harmonies and imaginative settings of both sacred and secular texts; the music deserves to be heard. Lusitano’s music will be complemented by that of his more well-known fellow composers of the period.

Joseph McHardy studied at Edinburgh University (prizes for Early Music and Conducting), and the RAM. For ETO he has conducted Purcell’s The Fairy Queen (2011) and Linley’s The Duenna (2010). This year, he made his debut at the Innsbruck Festival, conducting the final of its Baroque Opera Competition. As assistant conductor he has worked for Glyndebourne, Garsington, Teatro Real, Madrid and Komische Oper, Berlin. Last year, the RAM elected him an Associate for his contribution to the profession.