Powderham Castle's next concert has been devised by Josie Walledge and is full of unexpected treasures! 

Josie has assembled 10 superb singers for the largest-scale piece, Domenico Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater.  It’s magnificent.  It’s almost all in 10 independent parts, an absolute masterpiece of craftsmanship, creating a fascinating warp and weft of musical lines and textures.  It’s accompanied just by continuo – cello and organ.

With so many voices available, an obvious next choice is a Bach Motet, Singet dem Herrn, a glorious 8-part piece, throwing two choruses from side to side before they combine for the musical climaxes. And the organ, as well as playing a discreet role as ‘continuo’, filling in the harmonic details, will have a solo role as I play some Bach chorale preludes before the Motet.

The first half of the concert is one of the greatest dramas of the early baroque, the oratorio Jephte by Carissimi.  He was one of the first to take the new genre of opera and apply it to sacred subjects, about 80 years before Handel did the same for English Oratorio in London.  Jephte dates from 1650, and is a deeply poignant account of Jephte’s rash promise to sacrifice the first living creature he met on returning home from battle: he met his daughter!  Her plaint, in the wilderness accompanied by haunting ‘echoes’, is one of early music’s most heart-rending moments.

Tickets are £15, and we’re continuing our drive to encourage the next generation of listeners by offering a special discount to students - £7.   ‘Students’ include any young people in full- or nearly full-time education, at school, college or university. 

Ring Powderham Castle (01626 890243) for tickets