Name: The Cantus Ensemble Presents: Messages Across the Divide
Start: 2026-03-21T19:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-21T20:30:00+00:00
Location: St Mary-at-Hill

The Cantus Ensemble Presents: Messages Across the Divide

The Cantus Ensemble performs Heinrich Schütz's Musikalische Exequien, alongside a European premiere of Mason Bates' Mass Transmission
About this Event

Join the Cantus Ensemble for a concert that brings together two extraordinary works that both explore ritual, remembrance, and transcendence across nearly four centuries of musical history: Musikalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz and Mass Transmission by Mason Bates.

Said to be an inspiration for Brahms' German Requiem, Heinrich Schütz's baroque masterpiece is a breathtaking setting of texts by various 16th Century Lutheran writers (including Luther himself). The composer weaves declamatory outbursts with delicate solo passages, all sung by myriad members of the choir.

In the second half, we proudly present the European premiere of Mason Bates' Mass Transmission. Commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony for their 2012 Mavericks Festival, Mass Transmission brings to life the true story of a distantly-separated mother and daughter speaking over the first long-distance radio transmissions between Holland and Java. Backed by an ethereal wave of radio static and virtuosic organ flourishes, the choir delivers what is at its heart a tale of separation and longing for home.