Gothic Voices embarks on a musical exploration of the powerful poetry of mediaeval English masters and present-day responses to the same themes. Maria, Stella Maris pays homage to the various, fascinating guises in which the biblical matriarch appears: the Virgin Mary, caring mother, intercessor, star of the sea and queen of heaven. Both her mythical and human characteristics are transformed into stunning music by mediaeval composers such as John Dunstaple and present-day counterparts including Joanne Metcalf and Andrew Smith.

19 August, 2018 22:15 -- st-andrieskerk

Around the year 1500, lutenists often liked to play in pairs. They improvised enthusiastically on compositions by great masters, in many cases preceded by a sober introduction with only minor ornamentation – coloratura – that was intended to tune the lute and put the listener in the right frame of mind. The music was played twice or even three times, enriched with rapid, agile passages and slower sections, and complex and refined rhythmic variations. Lewon and Kieffer have gone back to the sources to recreate the music of the most important composers of the late Gothic and early Renaissance, such as Alexander Agricola, Antoine Busnois, Heinrich Isaac and Josquin des Prez. A unique encounter with the forgotten but fascinating sounds of early lute music.

20 August, 2018 13:00 -- amuz

In the 16th century both Peter Philips and Richard Dering fled their home, Protestant England, for religious reasons. The two Catholic composers created a new life for themselves in the Southern Netherlands, developing a new religious and musical identity. They brought English music to Flanders and were open to many European trends, including the Italian madrigal style. Their compositions sound refreshingly cosmopolitan. English polyphony is Stile Anticos trademark repertoire. “An ensemble of breathtaking freshness, vitality and balance”, are the words of praise from the New York Times.

Première commissioned by AMUZ

20 August, 2018 20:00 -- st-pauluskerk

When Paul O’Dette plays the sparkling repertoire of 16th and 17th century lute virtuosos Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, Nicolas Vallet, Jacques Gaultier and Alessandro Piccinini, the music genuinely speaks to us and seduces us. Only one book of lute music by the German-Italian Kapsberger has stood the test of time, but what a book it is. The most passionate and expressive music from the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque made Kapsberger one of the most successful composers of his time. Rightfully rediscovered, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger also symbolises the revolution in the arts and sciences during the Roman Baroque, along with Caravaggio and Galileo.

20 August, 2018 22:15 -- amuz

The earliest forms of musical notation in the history of western music can be found in the Gregorian manuscripts of the 9th and 10th centuries. In St. Gallen, Einsiedeln, Laon and Metz, manuscripts were compiled that provide the earliest testimonies to the first attempts made in the West not just to remember music, but to write it down on parchment. People often think that we do not have any manuscripts like these, containing early neumes, in our part of the world. However, careful research has shown that there are a considerable number of sources as close to home as the Royal Library of Belgium, which tell at least part of the story of the oldest notations. That these earliest forms of notation were mainly intended as memory aids has an important impact on this project. No scores are used here: nine female singers sing for an hour almost from memory, in atmospheric darkness. For once, we can take the phrase ‘Dark Ages’ literally.

Première commissioned by AMUZ

21 August, 2018 13:00 -- amuz

William Byrd was head and shoulders above his counterparts, thanks to the combination of formal precision and sensuality with which his music resounds. Byrd wrote both religious and secular music, and made important contributions to the development of consort music written for a combination of four or five viols. Byrd was a revolutionary when it came to music for keyboard instruments. He created complex, inventive pieces that sound very modern even today. Capriccio Stravagante, performing in a very large configuration and led by the outstanding harpsichordist Skip Sempé, has built up an extensive repertoire. It works with the best musicians of the youngest generation.

21 August, 2018 20:00 -- amuz