A Composer’s Mass for His Own Death
Following 25 cities of largely sold-out performances, The Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay to create a follow-up to the hit international immersive tour, Secret Byrd. Six dancers enact stunning tableaux vivant, filled with iconography to superimpose Gesualdo’s psyche onto his most chilling music. The result will be the boldest look yet at how the life and music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows.
The madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) may be most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in bed, but among composers he is revered for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years. Gesualdo’s tortured mind led him into a life of violence and suffering, concluding in appalling tales of sorcery and flagellation. However shockingly macabre his biography is, the Prince of Venosa’s malignant narcissism can be traced to key incidents from his upbringing in the zero-sum game of Catholic politics.
Performed by The Gesualdo Six and six dancers
Created and Directed by Bill Barclay
Choreographed by Will Tuckett
Produced by Concert Theatre Works
Commissioned by The Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, The National Centre for Early Music in York, and Music Before 1800 in NYC.
Death of Gesualdo
Created and Directed
by Bill Barclay
Choreographed
by Will Tuckett
Featuring:
THE GESUALDO SIX
Works:
TENEBRAE,
Selections from Cantiones Sacrae & Madrigals
by Gesualdo
Tour Dates
Death of Gesualdo will launch the 300th anniversary of St Martin-in-the-Fields: January 16 & 17, 2026 TICKETS
National Centre for Early Music in York, January 18 & 19, 2026 TICKETS
US Premiere: Cathedral Church of St John the Divine in NYC, February 13, 2026 TICKETS
More dates to be announced.
We encourage you to head over to Secret Byrd to learn more about our first historic collaboration with The Gesualdo Six.
Still photography by Jake Martin