Prophetiae Sibyllarum - 40th Anniversary Tour

Join us on our 40th Anniversary tour!

The Tudor Consort is a premier early music choir based in Wellington. We collaborate closely with the NZSO and Orchestra Wellington and frequently feature on RNZ Concert.

We are thrilled to present Orlande de Lassus' Prophetiae Sibyllarum (Sibylline Prophecies), one of the greatest works of the sixteenth century.

The twelve motets that comprise the work are written in a style known as ‘musica reservata’ or ‘musica secreta’. This piece recounts the mystical foretelling of Jesus' birth using highly chromatic chord progressions for emotive and expressive effect. In the very first bars Lassus breaks the rules of accepted harmonic practice to produce the sort of music that will not be written again for hundreds of years.

As the name suggests, this style of music was considered very specialised and just for performance to an educated and initiated audience. Prophetiae Sibyllarum is seen by many as the apex of this style, blending expressionism with breathtaking beauty.

This incredible work provided the basis of our sold out performance of Michael Norris’ SoundCathedral at the Aotearoa Festival of the Arts, and we can't wait to perform it in its entirety.

We round out the programme with our favourite Tudor works by Tallis, Byrd and Gibbons, alongside Ross Harris’ Vobiscum in aeternam which was written for The Tudor Consort in 2011.