Vicente Lusitano ~ Heu me Domine, Regina caeli Laetare,
Sancta Maria, Aspice Domine, Inviolata
Ghiselin Danckerts ~ Laetamini in Domino
Nicola Vicentino ~ Heu mihi Domine
Dom Pedro de Cristo ~ Miserere mihi Domine
João Lourenço Rebelo ~ Panis angelicus
Vicente Lusitano (his surname being a descriptor, simply meaning ‘Portuguese’) remains a largely unknown figure to modern audiences and performers, despite the obvious quality of his music and his contemporary renown as both music theorist and composer. Thankfully, the last few years have seen a resurgence in interest in his music, not least thanks to his important status as a ‘pardo’ and therefore very likely the first ever published composer of African descent.
Led by Scottish conductor, singer and musicologist Rory McCleery, a familiar face on Lacock courses, we will be exploring a selection of Lusitano’s works. Rory has been at the vanguard of the Lusitano rediscovery: his award-winning recording of Lusitano’s music with The Marian Consort – the first to be entirely dedicated to the composer – has led to concerts of his music across the UK, Europe and both East and West coasts of the USA.
Our repertoire will be drawn both from Lusitano’s 1551 motet collection, published during his time in Rome, and his theoretical writings, interspersed with music by fellow Portuguese musicians and also composers with Roman connections, including Ghiselin Danckerts and Nicola Vicentino, both of whom are an important part of this enigmatic and unfairly neglected composer’s story.
Since his Lacock debut in the Corsham Lamentations course in 2022, Rory McCleery has become a regular course director. He began his musical training as a chorister at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, subsequently reading music at Oxford, where he was both Organ and Domus Academic scholar at St Peter’s College before completing an MSt in musicology with distinction at The Queen’s College. He is the founder and artistic director of The Marian Consort and has conducted the ensemble in concert across the UK, Europe and North America. Under his direction, The Marian Consort has recorded extensively and become renowned internationally for its compelling interpretations of a wide range of repertoire, particularly the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, and works by contemporary British composers, and has been nominated for a Gramophone Award.
He has led workshop sessions, study days and singing courses across the UK, Germany, Spain and the USA, working with choirs of all ages and sizes in repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day. A vocal advocate for the music of the Renaissance to all audiences, Rory has written articles for both specialist academic publications and broadsheet newspapers, and appears regularly on BBC Radio 3.
Rory is also active as a countertenor, performing at venues including the NOSPR in Katowice, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, the Concertgebouw Bruges, and the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles. He has appeared as a soloist for broadcasts on ARTE, Radio France, BBC Radio 3 and German, Italian and Polish national radio, and in concert and recording with The Monteverdi Choir, La Nuova Musica, The Dunedin Consort, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Berkeley Ensemble among others. Rory also has a particular affinity for new music: he features on The Night With’s award-winning album release, and recently premiered a major new work by Graham Fitkin for countertenor soloist, orchestra and chorus.
Rory is a passionate believer in the importance of music education and singing for young people and is co-founder with his wife, harpist Rachel Wick, of Dunster Festival in West Somerset.
The course
Most of the repertoire is for a choir of seven or eight voices. We will convene a balanced group of about 36 singers, so there will be four or five voices on each line. We will meet in time for a 5pm session on Sunday the 3rd of May. Then from Monday to Friday we will follow the normal Lacock timetable:
09.30 – 11.00 first session
11.00 – 11.30 break
11.30 – 13.00 second session
13.00 – 17.00 long break
17.00 – 19.00 third session (16.00 – 18.00 on Wednesday and Thursday)
We will arrange a supper for everyone together on the first and last evenings (not included in the fee for the course), but let the party split into smaller groups on the other four evenings. We will give a public performance in the church at 4.30pm on Friday the 8th of May.
The venue
Stirling, ‘The Gateway to the Highlands’ is strategically sited on the River Tay northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
It was once the capital of Scotland and its castle, which dominates the city from its rocky outcrop, a favoured residence of Scottish monarchs. The course will be held in the Church of the Holy Rude (rood, or cross), a stunningly beautiful 15th century building the size of a small cathedral at the top of the town near Stirling Castle. It was a place of worship for the Stuart kings and queens, and in 1567 saw the coronation – complete with a sermon from John Knox – of the infant James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots and later James I of England.
Travel and accommodation
Stirling is very well connected by road and rail, with the railway station just a two-minutes’ walk from the city centre. It is 35 minutes from Glasgow Queens Street and 50 minutes from Edinburgh Haymarket and Waverley stations. There is also a coach service from both cities. The nearest airports are Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Prestwick. There is more information at www.yourstirling.com. You arrange your own accommodation. In addition to the usual commercial channels, you can find information about places to stay in and around Stirling at www.visitscotland.com/places-to-go/stirling/accommodation.
Fees and enrolment
This course is for invited singers but you may register an interest by completing the form below and pressing ‘send application’. The fee for the course is £670, payable in two parts: a deposit of £335 or the equivalent in euros on registration and a further £335 by the 1st of April. The deposit may be credited to another course if you have to withdraw and we are able to allocate your place to another singer. The fee includes the music booklet, which will be sent to you in advance. Accommodation and travel are not included.
