London's celebrated vocal ensemble Siglo de Oro brings a programme of Renaissance and modern sacred music to St James Anglican Church for their Canadian debut in Vancouver as they commence their 2024 Canada and USA tour.
The ensemble is best known for its work in early music, with a repertoire stretching from Hildegard of Bingen to Dieterich Buxtehude. Siglo de Oro is also dedicated to performing contemporary music, and their Renaissance Reflections programme offers selections both old and new.
— Programme —
Patrick Allies, conductor
William Daman — Lord Jesus, Think on Me
John Sheppard — The Lord's Prayer
Kerensa Briggs — Media vita
Herbert Howells — Salve regina
Jean Mouton — Nesciens mater
John Browne — Salve regina I
Anonymous — Creator of the Starry Night
Thomas Tallis — O Nata Lux
Derri Joseph Lewis — O Nata Lux [ world première ]
Martin Peerson — Upon My Lap My Soveraigne Sits
Vicente Lusitano — Regina caeli
Arvo Pärt — Bogoróditse Djévo
Jacobus Clemens non Papa — Ego flos campi a 7
Thomas Tallis — God Grant with Grace
Siglo de Oro is one of the leading vocal ensembles of its generation, praised for its golden tone, fresh interpretations, and innovative programming. The group made its professional debut in 2014 at the Spitalfields Festival, of which the Financial Times said :
Siglo de Oro, under the assured direction of Patrick Allies, performed with vivacity and poise
Since then, the group has given concerts across the UK, appeared live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, and taken up invitations to sing at festivals in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Malta.
The ensemble is best known for its work in early music, with a repertoire stretching from Hildegard of Bingen to Dieterich Buxtehude. In particular, Siglo de Oro specialises in bringing to life repertoire that has been neglected for centuries. This has led to projects based around music by composers such as Matthias Werrecore, Sulpitia Cesis, and Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, bringing their long-forgotten music to new audiences in concerts, videos and recordings.
The vocal ensemble is also dedicated to performing contemporary music. Past projects have included the premiere of Emily Hall’s hotel-based opera, Found and Lost, a performance of Stockhausen’s Stimmung at Birmingham University, and a collaboration with the charity Multitude of Voyces, whose mission is to promote the work of underrepresented composers. So far, the group has recorded eight works from Multitude of Voyces’ volumes of sacred music by women, including new works by Emily Hazrati, Yshani Perinpanayagam, and Alison Willis.
Siglo de Oro has released five albums on the Delphian label, each of them including performances of rarely heard repertory. The choir's recording career began in 2016 with the contemporary sacred music release Drop Down, Ye Heavens. A 2018 disc devoted to the Missa Tulerunt Dominum Meum of Hieronymus Praetorius earned a five-star rating from BBC Music Magazine, and another noted recording featured the music of the virtually unknown Milanese composer Matthias Werrecore, who also compiled a motet book of sacred music. In 2020, Siglo de Oro released Christmas in Puebla, featuring Baroque music, some of it African- or Native American-influenced, from the Cathedral of Puebla, Mexico. That album was crowd-funded under the name "The Padilla Project," referring to the main featured composer, Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla.
Choral director Patrick Allies began his musical education as a chorister at the Temple Church in London, under Stephen Layton. He sang in Gloucester Cathedral Choir before taking up a Choral Scholarship to study Music at King's College London, graduating in 2010 with First Class Honours. Patrick went on to postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge where he sang in Jesus College Choir. Patrick is currently a PhD student in Music at the University of Oxford.
While at university, Patrick founded Siglo de Oro, a choir that performs both Renaissance and Contemporary music. In 2014 the group made its professional debut at the Spitalfields Festival, of which The Financial Times said: "Siglo de Oro, under the assured direction of Patrick Allies, performed with vivacity and poise." Since then, the group has performed at the Barber Institute, the Holy Week and Christmas Festivals at St John’s Smith Square, and made regular appearances on BBC Radio 3's In Tune.
Under Patrick's direction, Siglo de Oro has made five acclaimed recordings with Delphian Records. Gramophone described the first disc, which included eight new commissions for choir and saxophone, as "so invigorating... this one hits you with its character and depth." The second featured the world premiere of a late-Renaissance mass by Hieronymus Praetorius. BBC Music Magazine made it Choral and Song Album of the Month, and said: "here is a choir in which all the elements are held in perfect equilibrium. Patrick Allies ponders every note before moulding lines whose suppleness in turn coalesce into a living breathing whole."
Patrick is in demand as workshop leader, in particular on the subject of the performance of Renaissance polyphony, and has taken up invitations to give sessions for the Thames Valley, Eastern, Midlands, and South-West Early Music Forums. He also works regularly as a writer on music, producing programme notes for the Gabrieli Consort and St John's Smith Square.