Vocal music at 2016 BBC Proms - Stile Antico with Fretwork and The Sixteen

I attended a concert at Cadogan Hall by the vocal ensemble "Stile Antico" and the viol players of "Fretwork". It was part of the BBC proms chamber music series. Much of the music had the common theme of using Shakespeare texts as lyrics. One of the composers, Robert Johnson, was in fact a contemporary of Shakespeare. He wrote incidental music and songs for Shakespeare's plays such as "The Tempest". His song "Full fathom five" from "The Tempest" was performed here. Other featured composers on the program who used Shakespeare's texts were Thomas Morley (1557-1602), Huw Watkins (b. 1976) and Nico Muhly (b. 1981). The piece "Gentle Sleep" by Muhly stood out for its word painting and close following of the text. A few of the other songs had either biblical or anonymous texts . These were by William Byrd (1540-1623), Thomas Tomkins(1572-1656), Robert Ramsey (d. 1644) and John Wilbye (1574-1638). 

Fretwork either accompanied the singers or played on their own (pieces by William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons). Five viols of different sizes were performed as an ensemble. They produced a pleasant, homogeneous sound. I am not sure where they are based. I assume in London. They play early and contemporary music.

Stile Antico is based in London and has 12 singers. They primarily sing music of the Renaissance. They also give premieres of new works. 

Here is a photo of Cadogan Hall where the concert took place. It was previously a church.

At Royal Albert Hall I heard a late night proms concert with the vocal ensemble "The Sixteen", directed by Harry Christophers. They performed motets by Bach and 2 works by Arvo Pärt. 

The contrast in styles was obvious. These works were written 250 years apart with different musical harmonies. The style of writing is opposite. The Bach was often very "busy" with lots of contrapuntal lines whereas the Pärt was very "thin" with a sparse style. The contrast was very obvious to the ear.

The Pärt pieces performed were "Nunc dimittis " (2001) and " Triodion" (1998). The former was a commission by a church in Edinburgh. Pärt had written a Magnificat 12 years earlier in Berlin. Often those 2 texts of Nunc and Magnificat are paired by composers. This time there was a 12 year gap between those compositions. They were not conceived at the same time. The "Triodion" mixed orthodox chant style singing and more contemporary Pärt style writing. It was stunning. It was written in English and was a commission from Lancing College in the UK to mark its 150th anniversary.

I wish groups in the U.S. would sing this!

The most familiar Bach motet "Jesu, meine Freude" took the chorale tune. It was set in many different ways by Bach. You could always hear a hint of the chorale. The texture could get quite thick.

It was beautiful.

For this concert the usual 16 singers was supplemented and made into an ensemble of 34.

This was a very polished performance by a talented group of singers.