Bruckner & Gesualdo: Echoing Across the Centuries

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Jonathan Sells, conductor
James Johnstone, organ

In the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth, the Monteverdi Choir, in its 60th year, explores the 19th-century vision of the past.

Anton Bruckner was born 200 years ago this year. To hear his choral music with fresh ears, we have placed his celebrated a cappella motets together with unlikely bedfellows, above all the sacred motets of Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613).

Richard Wagner was one of Bruckner’s musical heroes, and in his motets Bruckner manages to distil a hyper-romantic and highly expressive idiom into a compact form which otherwise eluded both of them.

250 years earlier, Gesualdo was experimenting with ear- and mind-bending chromatic expressionism and enharmonic shifts in a remarkably similar way. Both Bruckner and Gesualdo were outsiders, were strongly led by their Catholic faith, and showed signs of mental instability. The tormented passion of their music seems to reach out across the centuries.

To view the full programme Click Here

Unreserved seating is offered in three areas within the Cathedral. The Orange seating offers Unrestricted Views of the performance area. The Green seating offers Restricted Views with screens that show the performance area. The Pink seating offers Restricted Views without screens.