VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music

Step inside the world of Elizabethan England, where music was power, art was politics, and a woman ruled with brilliance and steel. In VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music, Ars Nova shares the stage with actor Tamara Meneghini to bring Queen Elizabeth I to life.

Drawing upon her acclaimed one-woman play Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, Meneghini gives voice to the sovereign’s private reflections. The choir puts the queen’s thoughts into dialogue with the music she heard, supported, and cherished: music by English composers who were not only masters of polyphony but also skillful diplomats, navigating a treacherous political environment.

The evening’s music includes Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium, a monumental work with forty independent voice parts, all rising in waves of supplication; William Byrd’s “O Lord, Make Elizabeth Our Queen,” a sublimely gentle prayer on Elizabeth’s behalf; and madrigals from The Triumphs of Oriana, an intimate glimpse into the queen’s mythic aura.

In its interplay between soaring polyphony and regal words, VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music creates a touching portrait of a queen both feared and loved.