The Prince of Music

Events

Friday, 24 April 2026 at 8:30 pm

Abdijkerk van Park, Leuven, Belgium

Stile Antico marks its twentieth season by honouring the undisputed master of the style which gives the group its name: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose quincentenary falls in 2025. Palestrina’s stellar career was inextricably entwined with the Papacy and the great churches of Rome for which he composed. This programme explores the music he would have sung at the Sistine Chapel, the changes in his style demanded by the Counter-Reformation, his tragic personal life, and his influence on his successors. The repertoire is sumptuous, including several of Palestrina’s most beloved and timeless motets, gems by other leading composers active in Rome, and a new work by leading British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad, written especially for this programme.

Palestrina: Sicut cervus

THE PAPAL CHAPEL
Josquin: Salve Regina
Arcadelt: Pater noster
Palestrina: Tu es Petrus

THE COUNTER-REFORMATION
Palestrina: Nigra sum sed Formosa
Victoria: Trahe me post te
Palestrina: Super flumina Babylonis
Palestrina: Credo from Missa Papae Marcelli

IN PRAISE OF MUSIC
Palestrina: Exultate Deo
Lassus: Musica Dei donum
Palestrina: Laudate Dominum a 12

PALESTRINA’S RICH LEGACY
Anerio: Christus factus est
Allegri: Christus resurgens
Cheryl: Frances-Hoad A Gift of Heaven