BBC Promenade Concerts 2007 : The Tallis Scholars, The BBC Singers & His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts, Royal Albert Hall, London (GB) - Jul 17, 2007

The concert consisted of Striggio’s Motet, Ecce beatam lucem; Motet & Magnificat, Aurora lucis rutilat by Lassus; Motet, Spem in alium by Tallis; Striggio’s Mass, Ecco si beato giorno, Conductors Peter Phillips, Davitt Moroney. 16th century choral music. Spem in alium, of course, is famous for its 40 parts and Striggio’s Ecce beatam lucem also has 40. This is apparently very rare and so Ecco si beato giorno is the most unusual, with its 40 and 60 parts. It is likely that this performance was the first since it was written. Great tapestried walls of sound from the voices, rich textures, polyphony and antiphony. The Sagbutts and Cornetts ensemble (which joined the choirs for the Striggio pieces) was made up from two cornetts, two alto/tenor sackbuts, two tenor sackbuts, two bass sackbuts, one great bass sackbut (double-bass trombone!), a harp, a great bass viol, lirone (similar to a bass viol), theorbo, harpsichord and chamber organ.