Recounting Monteverdi's Vespers with scholar Grace Hindle
On 26th March 2025, we travelled from Royal Holloway into London to the medieval surroundings of London’s oldest Church, St Batholomew the Great, to perform Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists. After months of practice and preparation, it felt almost unreal that the day was finally here! Following the Christmas rush and all its bells and whistles at the end of Term 1, it was quite the change of pace to get stuck into the Monteverdi and learn the niches and nuances that came with historical performance.
We were incredibly fortunate to be treated to a masterclass from Daniel Thomson on historically accurate performance and ornamentation, ensuring we were fully connecting to the music and its meaning. I was given the incredible opportunity to sing a soprano duet, ‘Pulchra Es’, with my fellow scholar Esmé Ellis, and sang the first soprano part in ‘Laetatus Sum’, alongside a few of my fellow scholars and Daniel Thomson. It was only as I walked onto the stage and opened my folder that it hit me that all our hard work had led to this wonderful moment! The atmosphere in the church was incredible and really transported us back to Monteverdi’s Italy. We finished the evening after an exceptional concert with a well-earned pint!
The music and this experience really brought us closer together as a choir; a highlight includes singing movement 10, ‘Nisi Dominus’, while out at the university night club one night… safe to say that this piece has been a firm favourite!