Number Mania: Medieval Music in Tune with the Heavens.
Sung by one of the world’s most celebrated vocal ensembles, this program is designed to explore the relationship between numerical patterns and sounding music in an age when number literally ruled people’s thinking. Hear how these patterns brought the listener into contact with the underlying structure of the heavens and the universe as a whole.
POMERIUM, founded by Alexander Blachly in New York in 1972 to perform music composed for the famed chapel choirs of the Renaissance, derives its name from the title of a treatise by the 14th-century music theorist Marchettus of Padua. In the introduction, Marchettus explains that his Pomerium (literally, “garden”) contains the fruits and flowers of the art of music. Widely known for its interpretations of Du Fay, Ockeghem, Josquin, Palestrina, Lassus, and Gesualdo, the modern Pomerium is currently recording a series of compact discs of the masterpieces of Renaissance a cappella choral music, of which the fifteenth to be recorded, Music for the Tudor Queens, was released in February 2015.
ALEXANDER BLACHLY has been active in early music as both performer and scholar since 1972. He earned his post-graduate degrees in musicology from Columbia University and is a recipient of the Noah Greenberg Award given by the American Musicological Society to stimulate historically aware performances and the study of historical performing practices. Prior to assuming the post of Director of Choral Music at the University of Notre Dame in 1993, Mr. Blachly taught early music and directed collegia musica at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, Rutgers University, and the University of Pennsylvania, where for eight years he directed the a cappella ensemble Ancient Voices. In addition to Pomerium, Mr. Blachly directs the University of Notre Dame Chorale and Festival Baroque Orchestra.
1:15 - 2:00 pm
All concerts are free; no tickets or reservations are necessary.
The Chapel at St. Bartholomew's Church, 50th St. and Park Avenue