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- (MALE CHOIR HARMONISE)
- The Hilliard Ensemble is probably the leading male voice quartet
in Renaissance music.
- For about 40 years, the Hilliard Ensemble have been
some of the leading performers of early music particularly,
but also of some really recent music, commissioning new pieces.
And they stand out because they are an ensemble
that has worked together closely for such a long period.
- I've known the Hilliards from the very start of my career.
Actually, my very first concert I organised
as a university student was with them.
I emptied my piggy bank, paid a deposit
and invited them to sing at my university.
We've decided to actually start a small festival of classical music
within the Sydney Festival.
So this concert will be embedded in a series of about seven different projects
that have connections to classical music in all forms and shapes.
And that really gives them the opportunity
to be part of something bigger.
- One of the lovely things about the association
between Sydney University and the Festival of Sydney
is that we're going to get to hear the Hilliard Ensemble
performing in the Great Hall of Sydney University.
A lot of the music they're performing is sacred music
and so it was designed to be sung in a resonant cathedral acoustic.
And the Great Hall has that because it has a large space
and stone walls and a hard floor.
They've called this programme the Hilliard Songbook
and that's a really good way of putting it because it sums up in some ways
what they've been doing over the last 40 years.
So along with some of the really old music,
there's also completely new music.
In fact, we're going to be hearing the world premiere of a new set of pieces
by the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa.
What I'm really looking forward to most is the 16th century repertoire,
above all, Arcadelt's Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno, the Sweet White Swan.
This was the absolute hit of the 16th century in secular music.
But also Josquin des Prez's Ave Maria.
- It's a great opportunity to hear them live.
And in performing arts, there's nothing better than having the live experience.
So hearing the Hilliards before they stop their career
after 40 years of singing
is a great opportunity to engage with that kind of music.
And after that, there will only be the recordings that will be left.
- (MALE CHOIR HARMONISE)