Contrapunctus: Victoria in Rome & Madrid

Saturday 25 April 2026, 7.30pm
Chapel of The Queen’s College
button book here

Tickets £25 / £5 (student)

Oxford’s renowned early-music consort Contrapunctus traces the career of Tomás Luis de Victoria across two great centres of Renaissance music: Rome and Madrid. From Rome we hear movements of Victoria’s exquisite Missa O magnum mysterium and Palestrina's famous Missa brevis, framed by motets by Victoria and Palestrina, illuminating the Victoria’s formative years in the papal city and the connections between the two composers' styles. The second half turns to Madrid, where Victoria spent his later career, placing his music alongside that of Philippe Rogier – a leading figure at the Spanish court – and Alonso Lobo, whose music was published by the royal press in Madrid.

Join us for a programme that explores the stylistic richness, devotional intensity, and international influences that shaped one of the most expressive voices of the late Renaissance.

Seriously, startlingly good' – Gramophone

'Superb singing' – The Observer

'The singers shape each piece lovingly. Impeccable.' – The Sunday Times

Programme

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Nigra sum
Quæ est ista
Missa brevis (Agnus Dei II)

Tomás Luis de Victoria
Missa O magnum mysterium (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus)
Gaude Maria virgo
Ascendens Christus
Asperges me
Pange lingua

Philippe Rogier
Inclina cor meum

Alonso Lobo
Ave regina cælorum

Francisco Guerrero
Ave virgo sanctissima