Singing in Secret, Charivari Agréable
This concert of Catholic Recusant music performed by Charivari Agréable in the chapel of Exeter College, Oxford, was a sobering reminder of how dangerous the Tudor world was and how being a musician was not an easy profession. The Protestant Reformation had swept away many of the secure jobs musicians had held in cathedrals and monasteries, forbidding church music in many cases, and drove many composers abroad.
Performing a sung Mass or service could get you arrested, jailed or even tried for treason. The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book was compiled and laboriously written by a Catholic in prison for his faith. Many of the biggest names in Tudor music - Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and John Bull - were secret or open Catholics. Bull had to go into exile.
Louise Ashdown (contralto), Will Anderson (tenor) and Ben Gilchrist (bass), formed a perfectly homogenous vocal ensemble, weaving the lines of polyphony in solemn, sonorous tones that echoed around the lofty vaulting of the chapel. In between performances of Byrd's Mass for Three Voices, Matthew Locke's In the beginning, Richard Dering's Isti sunt sancti & Cantate Domino, Peter Philips' Veni Sancte Spiritus and Tallis's Alleluia, per te Dei genitrix, Kah-Ming Ng performed tricky organ voluntaries by Byrd, Bull & Locke.
The same programme is being repeated at this same venue on Wednesday 19th August 2026.
This concert is part of Charivari's Early Music Summer Festival.
For a full list of concerts and link to buy tickets, see:-
https://www.charivari.co.uk/charivari-concerts/early-music-by-candlelight.html
Tickets are also available at the door.
https://www.charivari.co.uk/charivari-discography.html