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Musica Contexta
Musica contexta is a professional ensemble specialising in the performance of Renaissance sacred music. At its heart is a core with a particular commitment to Renaissance music.
Musica Contexta translates literally as 'music interwoven', reflecting the group's primary aim of presenting Renaissance music in the context of its original conception and function.
The group first performed in Ely Cathedral in August 1992, making its London debut at St. John’s Smith Square the following year. Since then Musica Contexta has performed throughout Britain and Europe. Sell-out Festival appearances in Britain have included the York Early Music Festival, the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester Cathedral, and the Stour Music Festival in Kent. Musica Contexta’s Wigmore Hall debut was one of a number of BBC broadcasts the group has made. In 1995 the choir made its first CD recording, of music by John Sheppard. This was followed by a highly acclaimed series of recordings for Chandos, featuring Palestrina’s Music for Holy Week: the final recording in this series was shortlisted for the prestigious Gramophone Early Music Award.
Musica Contexta released its fifth CD, Le Divin Arcadelt, in May 2011, with the music of Arcadelt, Palestrina and de Silva.
The forthcoming release of William Byrd's The Great Service is keenly anticipated.
Next concert:
William Byrd - The Great Service
Wednesday 13 June at 7.30pm.
To mark the release of their Chandos recording of Byrd’s Great Service,
Musica Contexta and members of the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble
present a programme of the composer’s finest settings of English words.
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The venue
Our London concerts take place in one of the capital’s hidden architectural jewels – the Conventual Church of Saint John of Jerusalem, in St John's Wood; it is the chapel of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth. This magnificent building – a basilica in miniature – was originally built on the site of Great Ormond Street and moved to this site in the 1890s.
For all its luxuriant acoustic, the chapel is an intimate venue. This is ideal for the music in our series programme, most of which was composed not for large cathedral settings, but for private chapels. The church is accessed through the main entrance to the hospital, which is about 100 yards from St. John’s Wood underground station.
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