TONY COOPER Music from and inspired by the great Venetian baroque composers of St Mark's Basilica will be performed in a concert promoted by the East Anglian Academy at St Michael's Church, Framlingham, this Saturday.

TONY COOPER

Music from and inspired by the great Venetian baroque composers of St Mark's Basilica will be performed in a concert promoted by the East Anglian Academy at St Michael's Church, Framlingham, this Saturday (8pm), by Charmody and Octave, two vocal ensembles each comprising eight voices.

They will perform polychoral music including Gabrieli's 16-voice motet Omnre Gentes and Schütz's German Magnificat for double choir as well as John Taverner's multi-voice Song for Athene, which was sung at Diana, Princess Wales' funeral.

These pieces make for an exciting use of space as well as of sonority and could well be described as early examples of stereo and surround sound! The Italian organists of the time made similar use of “echoing organs”.

The historic 17th-century Thamar organ in the west end gallery of this lovely medieval church in Suffolk will be in dialogue with the 18th-century Allen organ situated in the east end chancel.

The programme also includes sonatas and canzoni by Venetian composers as well as a late baroque concerto by Luchinetti and a sonata by Pasquini.

The concert also includes the UK premiere of the Concerto for Two Organs by Johan Timmerman, performed in the presence of the composer by Michael Illman and Malcolm Russell.

Octave comprise two sopranos, contralto and counter-tenor, tenor, two baritones and a bass, each with the technical skill to cope with the more difficult lines of music; this configuration enables them to present not only double-choir works, but the richer textures of five-to-seven-part compositions.

Charmody were founded in 1998 in order to fulfil an engagement at Framlingham Castle. The group sing unaccompanied homophonic and polyphonic music ranging from Tudor anthems, Bach motets, folk songs, Victorian part-songs to close-harmony numbers by composers such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin and the Beatles.

t Tickets £10. Telephone 01728 724456