First Notice: ” ‘Like the Octave of Some Great Feast’: Musical Life of English Catholics under Elizabeth.”

On Friday, May 27, at 5:30 PM our Society will be sponsoring a lecture by Mr. Sam Schmitt:

” ‘Like the octave of some great feast’: Musical Life of English Catholics under Elizabeth.”

(The quotation is a paraphrase from a passage in the autobiography of the Jesuit William Weston, describing his time in the house of Richard Bold, where William Byrd joined them for a time and they had sung mass with choir.)

The presentation will take place in the church hall of St. Vincent Ferrer parish in New York City. Mr Schmitt’s lecture will be illustrated by the performance of works of the recusant musical culture of the Elizabethan era.

Following the lecture, at 7:00 PM a Solemn High Mass in the Dominican rite will be celebrated in the magnificent church of St. Vincent Ferrer. The music will include examples of English polyphony of the 16th century. A reception will follow.

We are proud to be able to sponsor this splendid Mass and the preceding lecture; we hope as many of you as possible can attend!