Sounding the Renaissance: Workshop and Vespers for St Edmund
Event
Event Information
Sounding the Renaissance: Workshop and Vespers for St Edmund
An immersive afternoon of Renaissance music-making with period instruments and the Choir of St Edmund Hall, ending in a performance of Vespers for St Edmund.
The historical wind and vocal ensemble In Spiritu Humilitatis joins the Choir of St Edmund Hall for an immersive exploration of Renaissance Vespers. Reading directly from original choirbooks in white mensural notation, and guided by the sound of cornetts, sackbuts, and voices, participants will rediscover the expressive freedom of improvised polyphony and the luminous sonorities of early sacred music.
While traditional musical education often relies on modern editions, working from original sources opens a world of interpretative freedom. It allows musicians to make their own informed choices about phrasing, accidentals, and flow, rather than relying on an editor’s interpretation. It’s a liberating process. Reading from the sources draws you closer to the composer’s voice, encouraging a more personal, heartfelt performance.
This workshop invites you to experience that process firsthand: to step into the world of a Renaissance choir and take part in the singing of Vespers for St Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. Together we’ll explore the structure of the service, learn how to sing psalms in monody and improvise around plainchant, and practise reading from original notation.
Open to all—whether singer, scholar, or curious listener—this participatory event is about discovery, connection, and the joy of music-making. There are no wrong notes, only the opportunity to let your musicianship lead the way.
Here’s how the afternoon will go:
2:00 pm – Welcome and introduction to the structure of Vespers
2:30–3:30 pm – Working on the psalms
Break
After the break – Exploring polyphonic pieces in white mensural notation
5:10 pm – Short break
5:30 pm – Performance of Vespers for St Edmund
If you have any questions, please email: events@seh.ox.ac.uk
Come and experience early music from the inside out — as it was first imagined and heard.