Hilliard Ensemble

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 | 8:00 pm

Duke Chapel

The Globe and Mail calls the Hilliard Ensemble “without a doubt one of the finest vocal ensembles in the world.” Early music specialists, the Hilliard’s four exquisite male voices will be accentuated by the lustrous acoustics of Duke Chapel as they sing masterpieces of early music, including great works by the French composer Pérotin, who wrote some of the earliest polyphony, and by the later Franco-Flemish visionary Josquin Desprez.

What sets the Hilliard Ensemble apart from other groups is its perpetual questing for new material. This can include a lesser-known Renaissance composer like Josquin’s disciple Févin, through his charming chanson Petite Camusette, or modern composers like Bryars and Pärt, who adopt Renaissance styles. In a Hilliard performance, six-hundred-year-old pieces sound fresh and world premieres sound like enduring classics.

This event is part of the 2014 NC H.I.P. Music Festival, from Tue, Jan. 21 through Sat, Feb. 7 in Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. Sixteen historically informed performance events with musicians on period instruments. hip.mallarmemusic.org

Program