“God is gone up with a merry noise: and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet”! Celebrate the sounds of Ascension with a mesmerizing performance of Venetian polychoral music from the dawn of the Baroque, including Giovanni Gabrieli’s Omnes gentes à 16. (published in 1597), one of the earliest extant works written for such enormous forces (calling for four separate choirs!) Alongside this masterpiece, we are presenting Giovanni Croce’s equally impressive Missa super Iubilate Deo à 16. vocibus – also for four choirs – and apparently written at the request of Archduke Ferdinand (future Emperor Ferdinand II.) who met Croce whilst at Venice in 1598. This large-scale composition survives in manuscript form in the Graz Chorbuch, and is receiving its first American performance – and very possibly its first modern performance anywhere – by our Ensemble on Thursday May 9, 2024 at 7 P. M.

These massive compositions imply spectacular instrumental accompaniment, and we are taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by these extraordinary works to include a plethora of period brass, wind, and stringed instruments alongside the virtuoso vocal passages that characterize Venetian liturgical music from this period. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience the beauty of Ascension through music!