Notes From Past, Afar: British Singers Traverse Renaissance Polyphony

The British vocal ensemble Stile Antico embarked on an ambitious musical voyage through Renaissance polyphony, presenting a program titled "Polyphonic Postcards" at New York's Church of Saint Mary the Virgin on October 15. Their performance wove together sacred and secular compositions from major European cultural centers of the 16th century, culminating with a contemporary American composition, illustrating an expansive historical and geographic survey of polyphonic traditions.

Opening their repertoire with a dynamic interpretation of Thomas Tallis’s "Loquebantur variis linguis," the choir demonstrated an unusually brisk tempo for such reverent music, especially notable given their conductor-less and accompanist-free approach. The intricate interweaving of voices reflected the text’s depiction of Pentecost’s multilingual assembly, with dissonant notes emerging distinctly to highlight the complexities of early music beyond mere aesthetic smoothness.

The concert’s narrative then shifted to France, beginning with Pierre Moulu’s "Mater floreati," whose ornate qualities contrasted with Tallis’s vigor through a lighter, joyous tone. Claudin de Sermisy’s chanson "Tant que vivray" followed, performed by a reduced quartet from the ensemble. This segment evoked the intimacy of Renaissance social singing, characterized by carefully measured phrasing that echoed instrumental bowing techniques.

In a more theatrical vein, Clement Janequin’s "Les cris de Paris" transformed the choir into a bustling marketplace of street vendors, their vocal exuberance capturing the piece’s humor and energetic chaos. Although some of the performance’s theatricality was tempered by the venue’s acoustics and the ensemble’s polished sound, the rendition offered a rare glimpse into the popular culture of Renaissance Paris.

The journey continued to Spain with compositions by Francisco Guerrero and Alonso Lobo, epitomizing Roman polyphony’s solemn grandeur. While the choir occasionally struggled with intonation on soaring melodic lines, their careful shaping of phrases lent emotional weight to the cadences. This Spanish episode was followed by works from Munich composers Ludwig Daser and Orlande de Lassus, including "Fratres, sobrii estote à 8" and the lighthearted five-part secular piece "Es jagt ein Jäger."

Ludwig Senfl’s "Das Geläut zu Speyer," an evocative musical depiction of church bells, added a local color parallel to Janequin’s Parisian street scenes. The program then moved to Rome, featuring motets by Felice Anerio and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, framing a madrigal by Philippe Verdelot. Anerio’s "Christus factus est" enveloped the audience in an ethereal polyphony reminiscent of Allegri’s famed "Miserere," while Verdelot’s "Trist’Amarilli mia," delivered by a solo quartet, emerged as a poignant reflection on Rome’s destruction, highlighted by a striking alto solo.

Palestrina’s pious motet, performed with assured solidity, intriguingly echoed elements typical of Bavarian secular songs, illustrating the program’s thematic threading of connections between sacred and secular traditions across Europe. The final European stop, Venice, showcased Claudio Monteverdi’s "Adoremus te Christe" and Claudio Merulo’s "Vergine madre," with the choir’s nuanced delivery evoking delicate artistry akin to sculpting. The climax of this leg was Andrea Gabrieli’s monumental twelve-part "Ecco Vinegia bella," where the choir’s command of pacing, drama, and vocal power conveyed the grandeur of Venetian polychoral style.

Transitioning from Renaissance to modernity, the program concluded in Washington, D.C., with a world premiere by American composer Christopher Cerrone. His piece, "It looks quite curious," interprets a letter from Walt Whitman during his visit to the Capitol Building, at a time when the statue of Freedom was newly installed. The composition pushed the choir’s limits with complex layering, intense dissonances, and challenging dynamic shifts, diverging from the ensemble’s typical smooth legato and warm harmonies. This contemporary work, with its mechanical motifs and tense soundscape, served as a striking modern counterpoint to the historical repertoire.

The concert closed with a spirited encore of John Dowland’s melancholic "Now o now I needs must part," performed with a liveliness that transformed farewell into a hopeful parting. Stile Antico’s "Polyphonic Postcards" thus offered a richly textured exploration of Renaissance music’s diversity and its reverberations into the present, affirming the ensemble’s role in both preserving and expanding the polyphonic tradition.

According to classicalvoiceamerica.org, this program not only celebrated the technical and expressive facets of early choral music but also emphasized the unexpected aesthetic and cultural links bridging different regions and epochs within the polyphonic canon. The choir’s journey from England through Europe to America underscored the enduring vitality and evolving context of Renaissance polyphony in contemporary concert life.