Cornucopia

Music of Growth and Plenty

Saturday, November 20, 2021 8 PM
Harvard-Epworth Church, Cambridge
Map/Directions: Google Maps

Sunday, November 21, 2021 4 PM
United Parish in Brookline
Map/Directions: Google Maps

The cornucopia, or horn of plenty — broken off the goat who helped to nourish the baby Zeus on the island of Crete and endowed by Zeus with the power to replenish its contents, or so the story goes — is an apt metaphor for the abundance of vocal polyphony in the European tradition that has come down to us, and, for many, the nourishment this music provides. Convivium celebrates its return to live performance with a program on themes of growth, plenty, and variety: in texts, musical techniques, and composers. Works by Byrd, Aleotti, Senfl, Rossi, Schütz, Lusitano, Sweelinck, and more.

Ars Imperfecta

Pushing the Bounds of Polyphony

Saturday, May 21, 2022 8 PM
Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester
73 Lancaster Street, Worcester, MA
Map/Directions: Google Maps

Sunday, June 5, 2022 7 PM
Christ Church, Andover
25 Central Street, Andover, MA
Map/Directions: Google Maps

By the late 16th century, the international style of written polyphony became so well-established that some saw a “perfection,” or completion, in the development of elite musical practice in central and western Europe. Other practitioners, however, pushed against at least some of the common elements of the style, at times inspired by more radical interpretations of ancient Greek ideas about music, in some cases foreshadowing the seismic shift of practice that later became known as the musical Baroque. Convivium presents a concert of both famous exemplars of the “ars perfecta” — Josquin and Palestrina chief among them — alongside others whose efforts sometimes seem to lie outside the mainstream, including Orlando di Lasso, Giaches de Wert, Michelangelo Rossi, and more.

A Musical Banquet

with The Boston Cecilia

Saturday, June 4, 2022 8 PM
First Church in Cambridge
11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
Map/Directions: Google Maps

Convivium Musicum joins forces with The Boston Cecilia in a wide-ranging program of ancient and modern a cappella music for forces large and small. Each ensemble will perform its own selections, and the choirs will combine for large-scale works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Joby Talbot, and more.