In memoriam Josquin des Prez

Paul Van Nevel presents a concert steeped in melancholy and farewells, with chansons and motets by Josquin himself and by Nicolas Gombert, Antoine Brumel and even a contemporary composer. The German Jörg Schnepel, who studied Renaissance lute with Paul O’Dette and is thoroughly familiar with the musical vocabulary of the Renaissance, has been commissioned by AMUZ and Huelgas Ensemble to compose an elegy for the death of Josquin. A world premiere at Laus Polyphoniae 2021!

JOSQUIN Day with Klara
500 years ago to this day, on 27 August 1521, Josquin des Prez died in Condé-sur-l’Escaut, a small town on the banks of the River Scheldt on the Franco-Belgian border. We will commemorate the celebrated composer with a full-day programme that you can follow online.

Programme
J. des Prez: Missa Faisant regretz (Sanctus), Inviolata integra et casta es, Bergerette savoysienne, Et trop penser, Ut Phebi radiis/Ut re mi fa sol la, Se congié prens, Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales (Sanctus, Agnus Dei) | N. Gombert: Triste départ m’avoit | A. Brumel: Missa Berzerette Savoyenne (Agnus Dei) | J. Schnepel: O mors inevitabilis (world premiere)

Performers
Axelle Bernage, Maria Valdmaa, Dorothea Jakob, Helen Cassano, cantus | Olivier Coiffet, Paul Bentley-Angell, Achim Schulz, Loïc Paulin, Tom Phillips, Matthew Vine, tenor | Frederik Sjollema, baritonans | Romain Bockler, Guillaume Olry, bassus | Paul Van Nevel, artistic director

Laus Polyphoniae 2021
Friday 27 August 2021 – 20.00, AMUZ

27 August, 2021 20:00

Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450/55-1521)

The mass has been passed down, in full or in part, in sixteen sources: seven prints and nine manuscripts. The most important sources are the Liber primus missarum Josquin (Ottaviano Petrucci, Venice, 1502); F-CA Ms. 18 (20), fol. 82v-97r (Le Labo (previously Médiathèque d’agglomération de Cambrai, and Bibliothèque Municipale/Bibliothèque Communale), Cambrai) and D-Ju Ms. 32, fol. 200v-219r (Universitätsbibliothek, Jena). The numbering in New Josquin Edition is 4.2.

The cantus firmus of the Missa Gaudeamus is based on the Gregorian introit Gaudeamus omnes. The mass is in four parts.

This is a production of Alamire Foundation in collaboration with AMUZ.

Performers
Cappella Mariana, with the cooperation of David Fallows en Vojtěch Semerád

Vojtěch Semerád, artistic direction | Hana Blažiková, soprano | Barbora Kabátková, soprano | Ondřej Holub, tenor | Vojtěch Semerád, tenor | Tomáš Lajtkep, tenor | Filip Dámec, tenor | Martin Schicketanz, bass | Jaromír Nosek, bass

Festival
Laus Polyphoniae 2021 | JOSQUIN

28 August, 2021 10:00

Lux aeterna

Death was omnipresent in Josquin’s time. So he also composed a lot of music for funeral ceremonies, including the motet De profundis clamavi. When Josquin himself died, Jean Richafort paid a serene and poignant tribute to his teacher in the form of his Missa Pro defunctis. Requiem aeternam.

Programme
J. des Prez: Liber generationis Jesu Christi (prima pars), Pater noster/Ave Maria, Victime paschali laudes, De profundis clamavi, Missa D’ung aultre amer (Sanctus), Faulte d’argent | J. Richafort: Requiem (Introitus, Kyrie, Agnus Dei, Lux aeternam) | B. Appenzeller: Musae Jovis | N. Gombert: Musae Jovis

Performers
Michaela Riener, mezzo-soprano | Bart Uvyn, countertenor | Olivier Coiffet, Adriaan De Koster, tenor | Lieven Termont, baritone | Guillaume Olry, bass

Practical
Saturday 28 August 2021
20.00, AMUZ

Festival
Laus Polyphoniae 2021 | JOSQUIN

28 August, 2021 20:00

Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450/55-1521)

The mass has been passed down, in full or in part, in 37 sources: fifteen prints and 22 manuscripts. The most important of these are the Liber primus missarum Josquin (Ottaviano Petrucci, Venice, 1502); Liber quindecim Missarum, a praestantissimis Musicis compositarum […] (Johann Petreius, Nuremberg, 1539); V-CVbav Ms. Capp. Sist. 197, fol. 1v-12r (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City). The numbering in New Josquin Edition is 6.3.

The cantus firmus of the Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales is based on the monophonic French song L’homme armé. The mass is in four parts.

This is a production of Alamire Foundation in collaboration with AMUZ.

Performers
Huelgas Ensemble, with the cooperation of Jesse Rodin & Paul Van Nevel

Paul Van Nevel, artistic direction | Maria Valdmaa, cantus | Dorothea Jakob, cantus | Sabine Lutzenberger, cantus | Helen Cassano, cantus | Paul Bentley-Angell, tenor | Vojtěch Semerád, tenor | Olivier Coiffet, tenor | Adriaan De Koster, tenor | Matthew Vine, tenor | Tom Phillips, tenor | Tim Scott Whiteley, bassus | Guillaume Olry, bassus

Festival
Laus Polyphoniae 2021 | JOSQUIN

29 August, 2021 10:00

Voice of a mute | о, гомін німого | o, homin nimoho | stem van een stomme

Before its alliance with Russia in 1654, Ukraine was familiar with Western European polyphony through its union with Poland. Josquin’s masses were already found in 15th century Poland, and a century later many of his motets and chansons were gorgeously arranged in the tablatures by the organist Jan z Lublina and lute player Bálint Bakfark, a court musician to the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Ratas del viejo Mundo explore the link between Josquin and the Ukraine through the Ukrainian palindrome o, гомін німого.

Ratas del viejo Mundo also draw eager inspiration from 15th and 16th century instrumental arrangements. Meet the quintessential Ukrainian instrument, the bandura. This instrument – related to the archlute – has a rich register and can sound both furious and enchanting. The bandura was also the instrument played by the kobzar: the mystic, often blind, Ukrainian vagabond troubadours.

Voice of a Mute is the pact between Ratas del viejo Mundo and the bandura virtuoso Tetiana Hordiichuk. Together they bring Josquin to life in a kaleidoscopic combination of East and West, polyphony and chanson, based on his inventions or moulded by the fingers of arrangers many centuries ago.

Programme
J. des Prez: Missa L’ami Baudichon (Gloria), Mon mary m’a diffamée, Ave verum corpus, Je ne me puis tenir d ́aimer, Tenez moy en voz bras, Непорушне і чисте мистецтво (inviolata, integra et casta es) | J. des Prez / S. Gintzler: Circumdederunt | J. des Prez / E. de Valderrábano: Obsecro te Domina | J. des Prez / M. de Fuenllana: Fecit potentiam | J. des Prez / F. Spinacino: La Bernardina | J. des Prez /B. Bakfark: Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi | Через поле широкеє (trad. Oekraïens)

Performers
Michaela Riener, soprano | Soetkin Baptist, mezzo-soprano | Anne Rindahl Karlsen, alto | Tetiana Hordiichuk, bandura | Floris De Rycker, lutes & cittern & artistic director

Practical
Sunday 29 August 2021
20.00, AMUZ

Festival
Laus Polyphoniae 2021 | JOSQUIN

29 August, 2021 20:00

Anima aeterna

Anima aeterna, an adventurous programme of sacred arias and motets from the 18th century, follows in the footsteps of Anima Sacra, performed for a sold-out auditorium at AMUZ in 2018. Orliński sings music by Jan Dismas Zelenka, Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Joseph Fux and the lesser-known Francisco António de Almeida Davide Perez. The moods of his music range from energetic, wild and dangerous to calm, enchanting and restorative. “The young Polish countertenor with a second career as a break-dancer combines matinee idol looks with a voice of quite astonishing, almost unearthly beauty, coolly sensual in tone, evenly produced throughout a wide range, and supported by well-nigh exemplary technique.” (The Guardian). An inspiring start to the new season!

Programme
Music by G.F. Handel, J.J. Fux, M.G. Schiassi, J.D. Zelenka, D. Perez, G. Reutter and others

Uitvoerders
Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor | Il Pomo d’Oro | Francesco Corti, artistic direction

When
Friday 17.09.2021
18:00 & 20:00 uur, AMUZ

17 September, 2021 18:00