Arcangelo, an ensemble committed to deep listening skills and the artistry of chamber music-making, is celebrated for its collective energy and spirit.

Sacred vocal music from the Restoration era of Charles II illustrates the continuous line of beauty English composers threaded through the turbulent years of civil war and social upheaval. Emotionally charged anthems by Pelham Humfrey, Maurice Greene and Matthew Locke seem poised between past and future. Handel's majestic setting of words from the Book of Psalms formed the soundtrack of England emerging into a new era of optimism and opportunity.

England's Chapel Royal, in the years before and after Oliver Cromwell's Republic, nurtured some of the nation's finest composers. After attending one of its services in 1662, Samuel Pepys observed 'musique more full than it was', referring to a newly energised era of composition under the restored monarchy, aided by foreign influences and new money.

Programme:
Christopher Gibbons Not unto us, O Lord
Matthew Locke How doth the city sit solitary
Henry Purcell Pavan in G minor
Pelham Humfrey O give thanks unto the Lord
John Blow God spake sometime in visions
Maurice Greene Lord, let me know mine end
Henry Purcell My beloved spake
George Frideric Handel O praise the Lord with one consent