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Monteverdi's 'Mass for Four Voices' - Emmanuel Cathedral: Sat 14 April at 5.30pm

Monteverdi's 'Mass for Four Voices' - Emmanuel Cathedral: Sat 14 April at 5.30pm

Date: 2018-04-13

"Much of the mainstream repertoire of Western classical music for at least 200 years was commissioned by the Church and written to be performed as part of a religious service. When we do get a chance today to hear these pieces performed live, it is usually outside a religious place or context," explains the Denis Hurley Centre's Raymond Perrier.

"But at 5.30pm in Emmanuel Cathedral on Saturday 14 April one of the highpoints of Renaissance music will be sung by the Durban Chamber Choir in a setting and context comparable to the one for which it was written almost 400 years ago. Monteverdi's 'Mass for Four Voices' was composed to be used as part of the services in St Mark's Cathedral in Venice. Our own Emmanuel Cathedral - though not as ornate as St Mark's - is just as imposing, also has a fine acoustic, and is similarly built on a reclaimed marsh.

"Monteverdi's music would have been sung during a Mass conducted entirely in Latin; the Mass that Cardinal Napier will be celebrating while the Durban Chamber Choir sings will have a lot more English. And we hope - unlike 1600s Venice - that Christians of all denominations and people of other faiths will feel welcome to come and experience this for themselves," says Perrier.

Entry is free and all are welcome to the sun mass, however guests are invited to donate generously towards the Napier Centre for Healing, in lieu of buying a ticket.

For more info - contact the Denis Hurley Centre on Tel: 031 - 301 2240. Safe parking alongside the Cathedral.