merely empty shells without the
music. They live as they are sung,
for the words are the body and
the music the spirit
Hildegard of Bingen
in the Churches of Rome
Music
OF EARLY CHORAL MUSIC
Video
The ensemble has been artists-in-residence at the Church of Saint Ignatius of Antioch on Manhattan's Upper West Side for nearly two decades. Our mission is both performance- and research-based. Working with libraries, historians, and choirmasters, both here and abroad, Polyhymnia strives to preserve and reintroduce choral masterworks of the Renaissance and early Baroque in ways that both entertain and enlighten. Artistic Director John Bradley frequently produces performing editions of music for the ensemble. Working from original manuscripts, some untouched since the 16th century, he has given his singers and his audience an opportunity to experience music that rarely is heard elsewhere. Our annual three-concert season offers works by well-known Renaissance composers such as Orlande de Lassus, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Thomas Tallis, balanced by music by lesser-known and less frequently performed composers such as Christopher Tye, Cipriano de Rore, and Philippe Rogier. Our goal is to increase the visibility and accessibility of Renaissance choral repertoire.
New York, New York, United States
New York, NY, United States
New York, New York, United States
Music Videos
Polyhymnia is supported, in part by public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Audio & Video
Check Out Our Music In Isolation Series On YouTube
Listen To Our Music On Soundcloud
Listen To Our Music On Soundcloud
Polyhymnia performs music composed between 1450-1650.
Polyhymnia Blog Posts
Latest articles for early music enthusiasts that want to dive deep into the world of Renaissance music.
And Just Who Was Christopher Tye?
Christopher Tye was probably born in Cambridgeshire, where the family name was common, around 1505, making him about the same age as is more famous contemporary, Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585). He is often mentioned as [...]
And the Angel Sheathed his Sword
Regina coeli laetare, Alleluia.| Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia. Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia. Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia. Rejoice, Queen of Heaven, alleluia.| For he, who you were worthy to bear, alleluia. Is risen, as [...]
Chianti and Rioja: and my Choir Curse
Polyhymnia’s choice for Lent and Holy Week for our Music in Isolation series, recently posted, is Inter vestibulum et altare by Christóbal de Morales (c. 1500-1553). When I discovered this, my thoughts wandered to my [...]
Full of Grace – Robert Parsons’ Ave Maria
Qui tantus primo Parsone in flore fuisti, Quantus in autumno in morere fores. Parsons, you who were so great in the springtime of life, How great you would have been in the autumn, had not [...]
Bob Marley Non Papa
I was delighted when John Bradley selected Ego Flos Campi by Jacobus Clemens non Papa (c. 1510- c. 1555) as the second motet for Polyhymnia’s series of virtual choir recordings. This was in part because [...]
The Chapel Royal in the Early 1600’s
For the 25 years that Polyhymnia has been performing, we have primarily centered our attention around music composed between 1450-1650. No matter how you may try to fit music into convenient little historical file cabinets, [...]
“The whole plan of singing should be constituted not to give empty pleasure to the ear but in such a way that the words be clearly understood by all.
And thus the hearts of listeners be drawn to desire of heavenly harmonies in the contemplation of the joys of the Blessed.
The Council of Trent“
