Music from the era of El Greco
and Velázquez
Saturday, April 26, 2008, 8:00 pm
First Church in Cambridge, Congregational
A spectacular program of Spanish Renaissance music, featuring Blue Heron’s singers, the cornetts, shawms, and trombones of the Boston Shawm & Sackbut Ensemble, strings, organ, and Spanish triple harp—more than two dozen musicians in all.
Free pre-concert talk at 7:15 pm by Dr. Douglas Kirk, McGill University
— sponsored by the Cambridge Society for Early Music
Presented with support from the Spanish Government (Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities.)
This concert is being presented in conjunction with the exhibition El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III, at the Museum of Fine Arts from April 20 to July 27, 2008. For additional information about the exhibition, visit mfa.org.
Related Musical Events at the MFA
(If tickets are required, they must purchased through the MFA)
Gallery Activities
Spanish Musical Instrument Demonstration
12 – 3 pm
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Lower Rotunda
As a complement to El Greco to Velázquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III, explore Spanish music and rare instruments from the Renaissance with expert performers Douglas Kirk and Daniel Stillman, playing cornetto, shawm, sackbut, dulcian, and recorders. Mr. Kirk and Mr. Stillman will talk about music during the time of Spain's Golden Age of painting, drama, literature, and music.
Funded by The Lowell Institute. Free with Museum admission.
Lectures + Courses
Sights and Sounds in Spain's Golden Age
7 – 8:30 pm
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Riley Seminar Room
This four-session course examines the Spanish Golden Age and culminates with a curatorial lecture highlighting the exhibition, El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III.
Course meets four Thursdays, Apr 10–May 1, 2008
April 24: Music and Musicians in Renaissance Spain: Court, Chapel, and Tavern with Michael Noone, adjunct associate professor of Music, Boston College
What kind of music did El Greco listen to? Who were the composers and musicians working beside Velázquez at court? Experience the music of the court and cathedral, the melodies and rhythms of Renaissance Spain, and discover the role music played in the Habsburg monarchy
Individual sessions $20, $25*
Four-session course: $60, $80* available at Remis box office (617-369-3306)
*the first price is for MFA members, seniors and students. The second price is for nonmembers, general admission.
