Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704) was the greatest composer of late seventeenth-century France, equivalent to Henry Purcell in England. Recreating the spirit of a French midnight mass, to Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit (Midnight Mass) we have added other suitable Christmas music, including works by Henry Du Mont (1610–1684) and Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749).

In this programme, the award-winning young chamber choir Stile Antico explores the connections between the Biblical Song of Solomon and Marian devotion in the sixteenth century. Sumptuous motets by the great Continental Renaissance composers, including Palestrina, Victoria, Gombert, Guerrero, Lassus and Clemens non Papa, are contrasted with the great plain song hymns ‘Regina coeli’, ‘Alma redemptoris mater’, ‘Salve regina’ and ‘Ave regina coelorum’.

As part of our occasional series exploring the music of eighteenth-century English composers, this concert celebrates the music of William Boyce (1711–1779).