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Denmark
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Holmens Kirke, Copenhagen Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae a 5 – R. de Lassus +
In the mid-16th century, a heated debate raged in the Vatican about polyphony in religious practice. The complex play of simultaneously sung lines made it difficult to understand the words, sceptics maintained, which was good reason to ban polyphonic music from the liturgy. Their most notorious opponent – as legend has it – was Pope Marcellus II. His adamant insistence that polyphony could in fact be clearly understood may have been the most remarkable statement of his papacy, which only lasted 22 days. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was charged with writing a new mass to prove the Pope right. The Missa Papae Marcelli is a success in every respect: transparent textures ensure the texts are fluent without the slightest compromise in terms of style or refinement. The piece became a paragon of Tridentine polyphony, inspiring generations of composers and leading to the epithet ‘saviour of polyphony’ for da Palestrina.
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Germany
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St. Florian-Kirche Sillenstede, Schortens Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae a 5 – R. de Lassus +
In the mid-16th century, a heated debate raged in the Vatican about polyphony in religious practice. The complex play of simultaneously sung lines made it difficult to understand the words, sceptics maintained, which was good reason to ban polyphonic music from the liturgy. Their most notorious opponent – as legend has it – was Pope Marcellus II. His adamant insistence that polyphony could in fact be clearly understood may have been the most remarkable statement of his papacy, which only lasted 22 days. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was charged with writing a new mass to prove the Pope right. The Missa Papae Marcelli is a success in every respect: transparent textures ensure the texts are fluent without the slightest compromise in terms of style or refinement. The piece became a paragon of Tridentine polyphony, inspiring generations of composers and leading to the epithet ‘saviour of polyphony’ for da Palestrina.
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Spain
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Teatro Real, Madrid The Fairy Queen – H. Purcell +
Vox Luminis brings the enchanting story of The Fairy Queen to life. The Fairy Queen draws its inspiration from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a piece that also strongly stimulates the visual imagination. The brilliant voices of Vox Luminis will resound amongst a spirited shadow play balancing between reality and subconsciousness, a new project by artistic director Lionel Meunier and scenographer Emilie Lauwers, in cooperation with dramaturge Isaline Claeys and filmmaker Mário Melo Costa.
Co-production : Concertgebouw Brugge With the support of Flanders State of the Art
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Belgium
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De Bijloke, Ghent The Fairy Queen – H. Purcell +
Vox Luminis brings the enchanting story of The Fairy Queen to life. The Fairy Queen draws its inspiration from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a piece that also strongly stimulates the visual imagination. The brilliant voices of Vox Luminis will resound amongst a spirited shadow play balancing between reality and subconsciousness, a new project by artistic director Lionel Meunier and scenographer Emilie Lauwers, in cooperation with dramaturge Isaline Claeys and filmmaker Mário Melo Costa.
Co-production : Concertgebouw Brugge |
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Belgium
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DE SINGEL, Antwerp Dixit Dominus, HWV 232 – G.F. Handel +
Handel’s Dixit Dominus is pure musical swagger. Written by a young, ambitious Handel in Italy, the work is bursting with energy: rapid coloraturas, fierce harmonies, and an immersive intensity that doesn’t let go for a moment. Zelenka’s Missa Paschalis is equally challenging, but in a different way. Unexpected harmonic twists, irregular rhythms, and an almost contrary complexity continually confound the listener.
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The Netherlands
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Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam Mass in B minor (BWV 232) – J.S. Bach +
No one knows why, at the end of his life, a Protestant composer gathered up all his knowledge and expertise and expanded a previous arrangement of the Kyrie and the Gloria – a so-called Missa brevis from 1733 – into an entire Catholic Mass. It doesn’t matter anyway. The fact is that in this magnum opus, Bach succeeded in combining beauty and polyphonous complexity like never before. Bach at his best!
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United Kingdom
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St James’s, Spanish Place, London Mass in B minor (BWV 232) – J.S. Bach +
No one knows why, at the end of his life, a Protestant composer gathered up all his knowledge and expertise and expanded a previous arrangement of the Kyrie and the Gloria – a so-called Missa brevis from 1733 – into an entire Catholic Mass. It doesn’t matter anyway. The fact is that in this magnum opus, Bach succeeded in combining beauty and polyphonous complexity like never before. Bach at his best!
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Belgium
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Sint-Baafskathedraal, Ghent Mass in B minor (BWV 232) – J.S. Bach +
No one knows why, at the end of his life, a Protestant composer gathered up all his knowledge and expertise and expanded a previous arrangement of the Kyrie and the Gloria – a so-called Missa brevis from 1733 – into an entire Catholic Mass. It doesn’t matter anyway. The fact is that in this magnum opus, Bach succeeded in combining beauty and polyphonous complexity like never before. Bach at his best!
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France
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Abbatiale, Ambronay Mass in B minor (BWV 232) – J.S. Bach +
No one knows why, at the end of his life, a Protestant composer gathered up all his knowledge and expertise and expanded a previous arrangement of the Kyrie and the Gloria – a so-called Missa brevis from 1733 – into an entire Catholic Mass. It doesn’t matter anyway. The fact is that in this magnum opus, Bach succeeded in combining beauty and polyphonous complexity like never before. Bach at his best!
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Poland
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Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St Bartholomew, Wrocław Mass in B minor (BWV 232) – J.S. Bach +
No one knows why, at the end of his life, a Protestant composer gathered up all his knowledge and expertise and expanded a previous arrangement of the Kyrie and the Gloria – a so-called Missa brevis from 1733 – into an entire Catholic Mass. It doesn’t matter anyway. The fact is that in this magnum opus, Bach succeeded in combining beauty and polyphonous complexity like never before. Bach at his best!
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VOX LUMINIS
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