Les Canards Chantants: A Renaissance Menagerie

Saturday 27th July 3.30 - 4.30 pm (no interval)


Sarah Holland, soprano
Robin Bier, alto
Edward Ingham, tenor
Graham Bier, bass

Songs about animals (literal, metaphorical and magical) take centre stage in this family-friendly sampler of wild and unusual Renaissance vocal music. Animals and animal sounds were extremely popular musical subjects in the sixteenth century. Sometimes the result was subtle, like referring to a loved one in the guise of an animal pet name. It could also be clever and impressive: Clément Janequin's efforts to realistically imitate natural and manmade sounds, like the bird songs in his Le Chant des Oiseaux, made onomotopaeic compositions all the rage across Europe. And sometimes it was downright silly, like the singing dog and cat in Adriano Banchieri's Contrapunto bestiale, and Orlando de Lasso's Audite Nova in which the singers catch, roast and eat a very naughty goose. Come and enjoy this playful afternoon of music by Lassus, Janequin, Purcell, Banchieri, Dowland
and more.


Tickets £7.50 (concessions free of charge) - unreserved


About the artists:

Les Canards Chantants was founded at the University of York in 2010 to explore the dramatic possibilities of the Venetian madrigal. Their debut project culminated in a sell-out performance at the National Centre for Early Music in 2011, and they were awarded a Vice Chancellor's Gold Award in 2012 for outstanding contribution to the musical life of the University. The "singing ducks" share a passion for finding and airing little-known repertoire, and for building theatrical and cohesive programs designed to help their audience listen past the barriers imposed by language,
modern score and social context. Recent and future projects include a salon program "At Dowland's Table" (lute song and madrigals in the round) and recording sixteenth-century devotional motets from facsimile in a recusant shrine.