Thanksgiving Service marks 650 years of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
Sunday, July 10, at 10:00 am, at Se Catedral Primacial de Braga, Eucharist with music performed by the Queen’s College Choir of the University of Oxford
Next Sunday, the Thanksgiving Eucharist will be celebrated, in the Cathedral of Braga, as part of the Commemorations of the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world, signed between Portugal and the United Kingdom.
The mass, scheduled for 10 am, will be sung by the Queen’s College Choir of the University of Oxford, directed by conductor Owen Rees. It is open to the general public and is attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, the UK Ambassador to Portugal, Chris Sainty, the President of Portugal-UK 650, Maria João Rodrigues Araújo, the Mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio and the Mayor of Vizela, Victor Hugo Salgado, among other individuals.
On July 10, 2022, Sunday, the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Treaty of Tagilde, signed by King Fernando I of Portugal and the delegates of João de Gante, Duke of Lancaster and son of King Edward III of England, and which led to the signing of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Alliance, sealed in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on June 16, 1373, by King Edward III, of England, and by King Ferdinand and Queen D. Leonor, from Portugal, which remains in force to this day.
This action is an integral part of a set of research, education, culture, cooperation and social activities, which are being promoted by the Portugal-UK 650 initiative, together with a hundred partner entities, in order to transmit the values of the Treaty. foundation of the Alliance in today’s world.
“There shall henceforth be among us a true, faithful, constant, mutual and perpetual peace and friendship, union and alliance and leagues of sincere affection” (Article I, Treaty of Alliance, London 16 June 1373) – appealing to the responsibility and commitment of each one.
The president of the Portugal-UK 650 initiative, Maria João Rodrigues de Araújo, invites everyone to participate in this historic moment and so relevant to the history of both countries.
Portugal-UK 650 is the initiative responsible for commemorating the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance and has the High Sponsorship of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and His Excellency the President of the Republic of Portugal.
The Queen’s College Choir is considered a “jewel of British choral music” (BBC Music Magazine). His extensive concert activity includes performances with orchestras such as the Academy of Ancient Music, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. He has recently toured Taiwan, China, the United States of America, Sri Lanka, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany. This choir recorded several discs, including Portuguese polyphony discs with works edited by Owen Rees. The recording of the works Dixit Dominus by Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti, released by the publisher Adie in May 2013, received from the demanding critics of the Early Music Review the indication of ‘Disc of unusually high caliber’ (an album of exceptional quality) and the magazine Choir and Organ 5 star award. The CD “Carols from Queen’s” spent nine weeks on the Specialist Classical Charts, was ‘Drive Featured Album of the Week’ on Classic FM, and was selected by the Telegraph Christmas. A New Heaven (2017) and The House of the Mind (2018) both went straight to number 1 on the Specialist Classical Chart in their first week of sales; BBC Music Magazine commented “New Heaven showcases the singers at their finest” and Choir and Organ magazine described The House of the Mind as a “disco gem”. In 2019, the CD with music by Tudor composer John Taverner was released, which received the “Diapason d’Or” award and was described by Diapason as a “splendid triumph of the art of British choral music at its best”. a disc with music by Giovanni Bononcini, with the Academy of Ancient Music orchestra. He has recorded regularly for BBC Radio, television and cinema, including his participation in the soundtrack of the film “‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, which was nominated for a Grammy and won the BBC Award for Film Music.
Owen Rees is Professor of Music at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Music and Organist (Director of Music) at Queen’s College Oxford. He is both an acclaimed choral director and an internationally recognized scholar of Renaissance music, particularly from Portugal, England and Spain. His investigation consistently informs his performances. He played a leading role in revealing the glories of Portuguese Renaissance polyphony to international audiences. His interpretations have been hailed as “revealing and even visionary” (BBC Music Magazine) and as “rare examples of musicology and musicianship combined to result in performances that are impressive and immediately appealing to the listener” (Gramophone). He regularly records for BBC radios 3 and 4 and abroad. His recordings have won a “Diapason d’Or” and been nominated three times for a Gramophone Award. He has recorded for cinema, including the Warner Brothers film ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’. The soundtrack received a Grammy nomination and won the FM Classical Music Film of the Year Award. His monograph on the largest surviving collection of early Portuguese musical sources – from the Santa Cruz Monastery in Coimbra – deals with both Portuguese repertoires and cultural and musical links between Portugal and other countries. He edited music by three of the most important Portuguese composers of the time, Manuel Cardoso, Pedro de Cristo and Duarte Lobo. In 2020, he won the Robert M. Stevenson Award from the American Society of Musicology, in recognition of his outstanding work on Iberian music.
About Portugal-UK 650
Portugal-UK 650 is the initiative responsible for commemorating the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance in Portugal and the United Kingdom.
Awarded with the two highest seals in Portugal and the United Kingdom, the High Patronage of His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic and the Royal Patronage of HRH the Prince of Wales, the Portugal-UK 650 initiative aims to celebrate and make known the history common ground, write new chapters on friendship, cooperation and commerce, develop scientific research on the Luso-British Alliance, and promote the values of the founding Treaty of the Alliance in today’s world – peace, friendship, truth, fidelity, constancy, solidarity, sincerity and kindness – “…there shall henceforth be a true, faithful, constant, mutual and perpetual peace and friendship, union and alliance and league of sincere affection” (Article I, Treaty of the Alliance, London 16 June 1373) – appealing to responsibility and commitment from each.
In the long term, Portugal-UK 650 hopes to contribute to a safer and more fraternal society, with greater knowledge of its historical-cultural heritage, more international solidarity and a strengthened dialogue, cooperation and friendship between the citizens of both countries.
In addition to the celebration of the most important dates – the 650th anniversary of the Treaty of Tagilde (July 10, 2022) and the Treaty of London (June 16, 2023) – the Commemorations include a set of other initiatives, until 2023, in partnership with more than 100 Portuguese and British institutions, in the fields of research, education, culture, commerce, cooperation and social issues.
To date, around 80 activities have taken place, with the highlight of this year being the Commemorations of the 650th anniversary of the Treaty of Tagilde signed on the 10th of July.
The program for the celebrations of the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance can be consulted on the website https://portugal-uk650.com, as well as on the initiative’s social networks.
For information on Portugal-UK 650, p.f. contact:
Maria João Quintela: mjq@cunhavaz.com (92 763 89 43).