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Playday on 21st June 2025

“Requiem” by Giuseppe Verdi

at St Cyprian Clarence Gate, London

All day rehearsal and playthrough

conductor: Peter Fender

soloists: Marianne Townsmith, Norma Ritchie, Mike Wells, Nick Marsden

Venue address:  The Parish Church of St Cyprian Clarence Gate, Glentworth Street, London , NW1 6AX

A schedule for the day is downloadable here

Information about the piece is downloadable here

A list of required instruments is downloadable here

There is limited free on street parking available at weekends

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Account Name : Philharmonia  Britannica; Account number: 00018475; Sort Code: 40-52-40

Reference: Verdi Playday

Rehearsals took place

for the orchestra

Tuesday 9th May7-9.30 pm Orchestra only  | Sat 13th May 2-5 & 6-9pm  all
Thu 12th May 7-10pm Choir only | 14th May from 4.30 pm at the concert venue

The choir rehearses on

Friday 5th May 7.30 - 9.30pm and Friday 12th May 7.30 - 9.30pm

joining the orchestra on Saturday 13th for 2-5pm

Why play the “Vespers” by P X A Tirado?

This concert is a co-production of Philharmonica Britannica (http://www.ph-br.co.uk/) and El Parnaso Hyspano (www.elparnasohyspano.com).

Through the connections of Rafael Montero (tenor soloist, and founder of the Hispanic early music Ensemble El Parnaso Hyspano) we have been able to acquire the rights to the world premiere of the Urtext edition of his Vespers for Corpus Christi, an oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra of about 40 minutes length. This would have been sung in Sucre cathedral in the 1840s and 1850s by predominantly indigenous singers. The edition has been prepared specially for this concert by PXAT scholar Patricio Cueto, and Rafael Montero, of indigenous Latin American descent, will bring a direct connection to those who first performed it. As was typical for much music at the time, the vocal parts are for soprano, alto, and tenor only, creating a three-part, rather than the more usual four-part ensemble. The style is very reminiscent of Haydn and Mozart, and is gracious and joyful.

Pedro Ximénez Abril y Tirado (PXAT 1784-1856) was one of Latin America’s most successful and prolific composers of the early 19th century, whose work spanned the critical period of the establishment of independent Latin American states in the period after the end of the Spanish Empire. Known at the time as “El sinfonista de los andes”, or “Mozart of the Andes" he learned his craft during colonial years, but was able to contribute to the body of early postcolonial repertoire. In the 20th Century his work fell from view. It is only now, with the greater interest in postcolonial studies and the rehabilitation of Indigenous musics that his work has begun to receive scholarly and artistic attention. His work exemplifies the cosmopolitanism and cultural mobility that was an important strand in the establishment of a distinct Latin American cultural life. At the peak of his career he occupied a prestigious position as director of music at Sucre Cathedral, the most important cultural and religious city of the newly created state of Bolivia, under the direct patronage of President Andrés de Santa Cruz.

In an associated project Rafael Montero has also been commissioned to produce the first professional recordings of 14 of the secular songs of PXAT, with fortepianist Carole Cerasi, which will shortly be released for free download through a collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, thus cementing a strong “centre of excellence” here in London for the premiering of PXAT’s music.

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