Instrument: Cornet

Rarely has so distinguished a group been assembled to give this work live; it would have shone as a highlight even in a normal year of visiting foreign ensembles and performers.

The scene is 1612 in Venice: a great battle has been won against the dreaded Ottoman Empire, and in celebration, evening prayers are ordered to be set to music specially composed by the great Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi and others.