Canticum Anglicum, conducted by Marga Schoutens, is a mixed choir in the bustling ‘De Pijp’ neighbourhood in Amsterdam. The choir consists of around 20 singers with an average age of about 40 years. For more than fifteen years we have been singing predominantly English choir music; the beautiful works from the Cathedral tradition of the Anglican Church.
A large part of our repertoire consists of anthems of composers like Byrd, Tye, Tallis, Purcell, Croft, Wesley, Stanford, Wood, Britten and Howells. Hymns and psalms on chant are also familiar to us and mainly used for services although we also apply ourselves to secular Renaissance music for our concerts, for instance madrigals by John Dowland and Thomas Morley. That being said, we are not averse to exploring other venues outside of the Anglican tradition, so now and again you can catch us singing in French (e.g. Sweelinck), German (Bach!) or even old-Dutch (e.g. Pierre de la Rue).
We do not prefer a specific time or period: we sing renaissance, modern and anything in between. Most of this music was written for church services so we are happy we can have our rehearsals in the Vredeskerk, in the Pijnackerstraat, near the Okura hotel. We rehearse every Wednesday evening from 8 pm until 10.15 pm. As a thank you for the hospitality of the Vredeskerk we sing Sunday mass there once every six weeks.
Apart from singing in mass, we organise two or three concerts a year in picturesque locations in the Amsterdam area. Our concerts often focus around a specific theme, like all-female composers or centuries old Dutch-Flemish repertoire. Every year we organise a day of study and fun for all the choir members.
The choir ‘season’ starts at the end of August. In between the concerts, we perform at occasions upon request, like weddings, funerals, a special mass or for Christmas carolling.
Canticum Anglicum
Pijnackerstraat 6
(aka: Vredeskerkplein 1)
1072 JS Amsterdam
Check out concert registrations on our YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/canticumanglicum/videos
Or listen to audio recordings on SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/canticum-anglicum
You can ‘like’ us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/amsterdamskoor
If you are interested in singing with us, in a booking or if you would just like to know more about the choir, send a message to: bestuur@canticumanglicum.nl
Or call René Oussoren: 06 – 1791 2255
CANTICUM ANGLICUM 