The Fourth Choir – London's LGBT classical chamber choir – presents Chiesa d'Oro.
Chiesa d’Oro – church of gold – has been the affectionate nickname of the San Marco basilica in Venice and San Marco and the stars of Venice are the inspiration for the repertoire for the concert.
The first half will consist of music written by composers who lived or studied in Venice when the Venetian Republic was at the height of its power and influence in the 16th and 17th centuries. We will be singing music by Giovanni Gabrieli, born in Venice around 1555, who became principal organist at San Marco; and Giovanni Legrenzi and Claudio Monteverdi, both of whom held the coveted post of maestro di cappella at San Marco.
We will also be singing works by two northern European composers who were heavily influenced by Italian music: Giaches de Wert, from Flanders, spent most of his life in Italy and whose work influenced Monteverdi; and the German composer, Heinrich Schütz, who studied twice in Venice, first as a young man with Gabrieli in 1609 and later with Monteverdi himself in 1628.
Most intriguingly of all, we are singing a piece by Barbara Strozzi, the most famous singer in 17th century Venice.
The second half of the concert takes up the theme of stars and consists of music by living composers such as James Macmillan, Bob Chilcott, Eric Whitacre and our own Artistic Director, Dominic Peckham.