Monteverdi Refracted

Following our comprehensive review of Monteverdi’s sacred music over five programs and two recordings hailed as “shimmering in loveliness” (MusicWeb International), The Thirteen begins an exploration of his secular music. We start with Monteverdi’s madrigal form, pairing it with near-contemporary works of the Renaissance-Baroque transition by Carlo Gesualdo and Barbara Strozzi. We present these works in conversation with secular song by contemporary composers, including Eric Whitacre, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Morton Lauridsen, and more.

This program is made possible by a generous gift from Don Picard.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

Past Performances

Maurice Duruflé | Requiem, Op. 9
Frank Martin | Cantate pour le 1er Août
Palestrina | Missa Papae Marcelli

The Thirteen performs works of remembrance and celebration with Duruflé’s poignant Requiem and, in honor of the 500th anniversary of Palestrina’s birth, the composer’s most renowned work, the Missa Papae Marcelli. Palestrina’s mass represents the high point of Renaissance polyphony, with a purity of counterpoint, deeply affecting dissonance, and clear text setting—qualities that formed the basis of an enduring myth that through this work, Palestrina saved Church music. Duruflé’s 1941 Requiem, also based on Gregorian chant, was begun under the Vichy occupation but completed after the liberation of France. Paired with Swiss composer Frank Martin’s celebratory 1941 Cantate pour le 1er août (the text of which inspires this concert’s title), this concert is sure to “transfigure the listener” (The Washington Post). Princeton University organist Eric Plutz, hailed as a “master craftsman… sensitive, emotional, stunningly accurate, and spectacularly musical… world-class” (The Diapason) joins The Thirteen in this tour-de-force performance.

This program is made possible by a generous gift from Sara Fein.

Amy Broadbent, soprano
Kristen Dubenion-Smith, mezzo-soprano
Oliver Mercer, tenor
Gilbert Spencer, baritone

The Thirteen invites audiences to experience our work through the intimate configuration of a vocal quartet, with Artistic Director Matthew Robertson at the piano. The close alliance between nature and music dates to the earliest written treatises of philosophers and composers. In this concert featuring works by Barber, Brahms, Hindemith, Palestrina, and by contemporary masters, The Thirteen presents music on themes of the natural world and on nature as viewed through the kaleidoscope of love, in all its faces: divine, filial, and romantic. In what is sure to be a highlight of our 2025-2026 season, The Thirteen continues our reputation for reimagining the potential of vocal music.

This program is made possible by generous gifts from Cheryl Naulty & Walter Hill, and Stephen & Maygene Daniels.