Celebrating 500 years since Palestrina’s birth, the programme also included works by later composers who were influenced by him, including JS Bach and Schütz. A fine programme which showed off both the voices and instruments perfectly. The only bad part was the concert's title: Looking Bach to Palestrina.
We were both fascinated by the instruments. Cornetts (not to be confused with cornets) look like curved recorders and produce a lovely warm sound. And sackbutts are the great grandfather of the modern trombone, with a similar telescopic slide. Both produce distinctive sounds that are rarely heard today.
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| Cornetts |
The music filled the space beautifully and we were transported away from the hubbub of Christmas shopping and festive markets and back to a very different time.
The Centre holds its annual Early Music Festival each July and we will try to visit York in 2026 to coincide with this.
On our way back to the hotel we passed the minster - bathed in pink light and looking amazing.
And, keeping with the music theme, we spotted some very well prepared carol singers near the minster. They even brought an organ with them!
