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K-State Today

April 5, 2019

Early music ensembles present 'Sounds of the Renaissance'

Submitted by Blakely Bunning

The K-State Recorder Consort and newly formed Madrigal and Motet Ensemble, directed by David Wood, instructor of music, will present a spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 8, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 601 Poyntz Ave.

"Sounds of the Renaissance" will highlight the beauty and creativity of secular and sacred music from throughout the European Renaissance. Admission is free.

Highlights include dances for five instruments by Anthony Holborne, an incredibly moving setting of the Good Friday responsory "Tenebrae factae sunt" by lesser-known Franco-Flemish composer Gaspar van Weerbeke, Josquin des Prez's rousing "Scaramella," variations for recorder by the blind virtuoso Jacob van Eyck, and more.

The K-State Recorder Ensemble is an outgrowth of the K-State Collegium Musicum and is in its second year as a standalone ensemble. The performers are students and Manhattan community members, and the ensemble performs using period-specific instruments. In this concert, the consort will utilize a variety of Renaissance-era recorders from the familiar soprano to the 5-foot-tall great bass recorder.

The Madrigal and Motet Ensemble is in its first semester at K-State. This audition-only vocal ensemble focuses on mostly one-on-a-part singing of repertoire from the Middle Ages through the Baroque, and is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students.

The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance is a part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Visit k-state.edu/mtd to learn more.