La Serenissima

Saturday 20, June 2026, 3:00 pm

St Mary's Church, Lace Market, Nottingham

Nottingham Bach Choir is honoured to be collaborating with His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts for this thrilling programme of sacred music from late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Venice. Works by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, alongside Gioseffo Guami and Giovanni Battista Grillo, reflect the rich musical life of St Mark's Basilica, where composers explored new possibilities of sound, space and scale. 

At the heart of the programme is the Venetian tradition of 'cori spezzati' in which singers and instrumentalists are arranged in contrasting groups to create striking antiphonal effects. From the brilliance of Gabrieli's 'Plaudite omnis terra' to the more intimate motets of his contemporaries, our summer programme moves between grandeur and quiet reflection.

With voices and instruments combined in ever-changing textures, this concert offers a vivid glimpse into the ceremonial and devotional music of Venice at its height - an afternoon of colour, contrast and expressive power, and all followed by tea and cake!