VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music

About This Event

VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music Step inside the world of Elizabethan England, where music was power, art was politics, and a woman ruled with brilliance and steel. in VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music, Ars Nova shares the stage with actor Tamara Meneghini to bring Queen Elizabeth I to life. Drawing upon her acclaimed one-woman play Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, Meneghini gives voice to the sovereign’s private reflections. The choir puts the queen’s thoughts into dialogue with the music she heard, supported, and cherished: music by English composers who were not only masters of polyphony, but also skillful diplomats, navigating a treacherous political environment. The evening’s music includes Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium, a monumental works with forty independent voice parts, all rising in waves of supplication; William Byrd’s “O Lord, Make Elizabeth Our Queen,” a sublimely gentle prayer on Elizabeth’s behalf; and madrigals from The Triumphs of Oriana, an intimate glimpse into the queen’s mythic aura.