Percussionist

Vocalist

Lutenist

One of Blue Heron’s most beloved programs, presented for the first time since 2018. Music for Christmas and New Year’s by Guillaume Du Fay, Nicolas Grenon, Johannes Ciconia, Johannes Regis, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Brumel, Josquin Desprez, Adrian Willaert, and others. Featuring a nave lit by candles, according to Blue Heron tradition.

EPSG:4326

Christmas in 15th-Century France & Burgundy

First Church in Cambridge

Don’t miss this concert program the Boston Globe calls “stellar” and the Boston Classical Review has dubbed “a hauntingly beautiful and uplifting occasion fit for the holidays.”

Our program offers a selection of music for the Christmas season—plainchant, carols, and polyphonic antiphons and settings of the Mass—that might have been heard in England in the 1440s, when the most modern of the works on the program were composed. The carols, drawn from several manuscripts, are written in a robust popular style with graceful melody and simple harmonies, while the polyphony dazzles with complex cross-rhythms, dashing melodies, and clangorous harmonies, all in celebration of one of the most glorious seasons of the Christian year.

Christmas in Medieval England

One of the greatest champions of William Byrd’s music in his own day was his friend Edward Paston, a member of the landed gentry of Norfolk, England. Byrd and Paston both adhered to the Roman Catholic faith which was illegal in England at that time. Paston’s remarkable private music collection includes both secular and sacred music, even large-scale choral music, preserved in intabulations for a single voice and lute, intended for entertainment and devotion, or possibly even for Masses celebrated in secret by itinerant Jesuits. Hear this unusual repertoire performed by longtime duo partners Elizabeth and Charles Weaver. Elizabeth Weaver is a soprano acclaimed for her “angelic brightness and dedication” and the “remarkable clarity” of her declamation. Charles Weaver is a sought-after performer on early plucked instruments. He is on the faculty at The Juilliard School and holds a PhD in Music Theory from the City University of New York.

Byrd Celebration: Elizabeth Weaver ~ soprano & Charles Weaver ~ lute

Saint Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church

Quicksilver brings together today’s top North American historically-informed performers. Described as “drop dead gorgeous with a wonderful interplay of timbres,” (Early Music America) and praised as “irresistible” (Fanfare Magazine), Quicksilver vibrantly explores the rich chamber music repertoire from the early modern period to the High Baroque.

Percussionist, Vocalist, Lutenist

Charles Weaver

Events

Past events

20 - 21 Dec, 2024

Christmas in 15th-Century France & Burgundy · Blue Heron

15 - 16 Dec, 2023

Christmas in Medieval England · Blue Heron

About

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