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October 16, 20:00
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Belgium
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St. Jakob’s Church, Bruges Der Schwanengesang – Heinrich Schütz +
A consummate musical testament, in which the composer, at the age of 86, sums up his entire life’s experience. That is Heinrich Schütz’ Schwanengesang, his ‘swan song’. No theatrical effects, but pure expression and a rare combination of inner peace and emotional depth.
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October 11, 14:30
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Belgium
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Église Saint Jean-Baptiste, Herve Sacro Monteverdi +
In 1641 Monteverdi published his Selva morale e spirituali, a major retrospective that he produced of sacred works produced over nearly three decades as musical director at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Covering a wide range of styles and emotions, they make use of the expressive resources he had developed as a master of the church motet, secular madrigal and opera.
Vox Luminis’s selection ranges from large-scale, colourfully accompanied motets to intimate creations for just a few singers and players. |
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October 10, 16:00
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Belgium
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Église Saints-Pierre-et-Paul, Manhay Sacro Monteverdi +
In 1641 Monteverdi published his Selva morale e spirituali, a major retrospective that he produced of sacred works produced over nearly three decades as musical director at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Covering a wide range of styles and emotions, they make use of the expressive resources he had developed as a master of the church motet, secular madrigal and opera.
Vox Luminis’s selection ranges from large-scale, colourfully accompanied motets to intimate creations for just a few singers and players. |
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October 1, 16:00
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Germany
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Herderkirche, Weimar Johannes-Passion – J.S. Bach (BWV 245) Private concert, in the context of the Bach Journey organised by Martin Randall Travel. |
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September 29, 15:30
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Germany
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Georgenkirche, Eisenach Bach Dynasty Private concert, in the context of the Bach Journey organised by Martin Randall Travel. |
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September 24, 20:00
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Belgium
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Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-en-Leodegariuskerk, Bornem Musikalische Exequien – H. Schütz +
Musikalische Exequien are one of Schütz’s greatest sacred works. With the Thirty Years’ War raging around them, Lutherans considered death to be the true fulfilment of their earthly life. Prince Heinrich von Reuss organised all the details of his funeral in advance, from the music that would be sung – to be composed and then performed by Heinrich Schütz during the funeral ceremony – to the coffin itself.
Vox Luminis’ recording of Heinrich Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien was a direct hit. The 2011 album received a Diapason d’Or and an International Classical Music Award, and was declared recording of the year by British music magazine Gramophone. |
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September 20, 19:30
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United Kingdom
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Wigmore Hall, London Vespro della Beata Vergine – C. Monteverdi +
Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers for the Blessed Virgin (1610) are so much more than an evening prayer service. The maestro of San Marco takes the traditional vespers formula – a combination of psalms, hymns and canticles – and transforms it into a musical spectacle of the highest order. Opera and liturgy, old and new, pious and sensual: everything collides and merges into one grandiose design. The score breathes the space of the basilica in which Monteverdi designed the sound of the future, as if the graceful galleries, balconies and choir stalls inspired the sound architecture. Monteverdi is a genius with voices, but he also makes use of cornetti, trombones, strings, organ and continuo – not as decorative elements, but as colours on a palette. Some passages are monumental, others sober and narrative or explicitly virtuosic.
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September 10, 20:00
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Switzerland
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Peterskirche, Basel Abendmusiken +
The ‘Abendmusiken’ were a legendary series of concerts organised by Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck. Even Johann Sebastian Bach travelled on foot from far afield to attend these concerts of sacred and instrumental music, and there he met the master Buxtehude, the most famous organist in Europe. These experiences left a lasting impression on the young Bach and had a direct influence on his cantata output.
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September 6, 20:00
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The Netherlands
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TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht Spem in alium +
Artistic director Lionel Meunier selected the iconic motet Media Vita of Sheppard, extremely moving music here flanked by two pieces written for 40 a capella voices. Writing for 40 voices implies a series of logistical and technical challenges. Tallis and Striggio probably met in London in 1567. Tallis’s monumental 40-voice work, Spem in alium, was probably inspired by the example of Striggio. Whereas Striggio’s composition Ecce Beatam lucem was probably designed for semicircular performance, Tallis had designed his music to be heard ‘in the round’, with the listener seated within the circle of performers. The music seems as such to ‘rotate’ around a circle.
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September 2, 17:00
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Germany
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Dreifaltigkeitskirche, Speyer Early Cantatas – Johann Sebastian Bach Private concert, in the context of the Bach Journey organised by Martin Randall Travel. |







