Allegri Ensemble - Immortal Fire - 27 June, 2021

Allegri's mid-winter concert explores the cultural meanings associated with the concept of fire, including themes of life-giving warmth, spiritual and erotic passions and destructive power. Our varied program ranges from the 16th century to the 20th century. Sacred music by Palestrina and Victoria uses fire to evoke the Christian God, and the Christian desire for God, while in contemporary madrigals by Morley and Monteverdi fire conveys the more earthy pangs of love and death. We present three little-known songs by Charles Villiers Stanford, including a whimsical celebration of industrial sparks and smoke in 'The Train'. Samuel Barber's powerful 'Twelfth Night' is a setting of a poem by Laurie Lee which yearns for the warming glow of salvation after the darkest of winters. The program's climax comes in Benjamin Britten's 'Hymn to St Cecilia'. With words by W.H.Auden, Britten's serene hymn ends our concert with a fitting prayer to the patron saint of musicians – that her immortal fire might continue to inspire composing mortals.

We hope you will be able to join us for this exciting concert at St George's Church, Battery Point on Sunday 27th June at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available at trybooking and from 2:30pm at the door. Student rush tickets at $10 will also be available at that time.