Saturday 14 March 2026 at 7:00pm
Sherborne Abbey
With the
English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble
Get away from the dark winter nights and be transported to the splendour of sixteenth and seventeenth century Venice for our spring concert, which celebrates this famous city’s emergence as a musical capital.
We’re joined by one of the country’s top period ensembles for an exciting programme of multi-part works for choir and instruments designed for the vast spaces of St Mark’s by Gabrieli, Monteverdi and some of their lesser known contemporaries, along with instrumental music.
The programme includes:
- Giovanni Gabrieli (1554/7–1612) In ecclesiis, Omne gentes plaudite manibus
- Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) Magnificat Primo a 8, Beatus vir, Missa a quattro voce da cappella
- Giovanni Bassano (c.1558–1617) Deus, qui beatum Marcum
- Maurizio Cazzati (c.1561–1617) Laudate pueri
- Giovanni Croce (c.1558–1609) Percussit Saul mille
plus instrumental items from our guest musicians
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble is a virtuoso period instrument group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name. In addition to regular recital work, the ensemble collaborates with leading vocal ensembles such as I Fagiolini, The Tallis Scholars, Alamire, Resurgam, The Marian Consort, Westminster Cathedral Choir, and is a regular at major festivals.
ECSE is in demand as a recording ensemble, contributing to Gramophone Award-winning discs such as The Spy’s Choirbook (Obsidian) in 2015, and the monumental Striggio mass in 40 parts Missa ecco si beato giorno with I Fagiolini (which scooped the Gramophone Award for Early Music 2011 and also the Diapason d’Or).