Ave Maria

At 4:15pm this Sunday, March 20, the Saint Nicholas Choir and Schola Cantorum will sing Evensong. As the choirs continue to prepare for their upcoming residency at Wells Cathedral, and to nod toward the approaching Feast of the Annunciation, they will present several Tudor-era pieces, including William Byrd’s Second Service and the great Ave Maria by Robert Parsons.

The latter motet is one of the lovely gems of the Tudor repertoire, and a favorite of our choristers. We were privileged to sing these works in the early 14th-century Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral in 2019. Singing polyphonic material in this marvelous structure, with its soaring fan-vaulted ceilings, was nothing short of a revelation to us. In fact, I would confirm that the experience of singing in this Lady Chapel has been one of the highlights of my musical life.

As a musician who loves period performance, I have come to understand that the instrument itself teaches the musician how to play or sing music from a particular era. This is especially important for Baroque music, perhaps, but something analogous can be understood about earlier sung repertoires, even when no other instruments accompany the choir. The various cathedral and chapel spaces of the time influenced musicians to write in a certain way, as they sought to say something individual in the context of their particular tradition.

Parson’s Ave Maria comes to life in such a chapel acoustic, as the mellifluous melodic lines of each part conspire to construct a vault of sound as luxuriant and awesome as the fan-vaulted ceiling at Ely. So reverberant is that space that a choir needn’t overextend itself; a few modest sounds bloom into gloriously resonant chords far overhead. Indeed, the space teaches you how to sing, even how to listen to, this music.

We hope our Tudor-musical offerings on Sunday help you enter into the spirit of Evening Prayer and the Lenten season. Do bring a friend if you can!

—Justin Appel, Director of Music