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Chordophony

Like viols and recorders, lutes were also played in ‘families’ in Elizabethan England. Chordophony ventures on a quest for the repertoire of Queen Bess’s mysterious lute ensemble, surprising us with the subtle colour range of four lutes.
In 1579 Elizabeth I appointed John Johnson as court lutenist. Shortly afterwards the royal accounting books show evidence of payments for a lute ensemble – a practice that was continued till the mid-17th century! Probably this lute collective counted in some periods as many as 20 musicians, no doubt resulting in a fabulous sound. Unfortunately nothing at all of their repertoire has been passed down to us. However, Chordophony offers an educated guess about the nature, style and content of the music collection of this enigmatic lute band.
Works by lute icons such as Johnson and Dowland of course get pride of place, but it can also  be assumed that compositions by John Bull, William Byrd and Peter Philips were executed by that lute ensemble as well. The fact that five-part works by Anthony Holborne were also handed down as solo versions for lute already go a long way to suggesting an interpretation by a lute family, and a most welcome rehabilitation of the neglected oeuvre of this illustrious “gentleman and servant to her most excellent Majesty”.
 

30 August, 2013 11:00 -- AMUZ

The Spirit of Gambo, Claron McFadden & Emma Kirkby

19:30
Introduction by
Elise Simoens
(Dutch spoken)

Two great ladies of the early music scene join us to celebrate 20 years of Laus Polyphoniae! Flanked by the instrumentalists of The Spirit of Gambo, Claron McFadden and Emma Kirkby present the best madrigals and motets from Orlando Gibbons’s The Silver Swan.
Composer/keyboard virtuoso Orlando Gibbons climbed the ladder of preferment higher than anybody else in his musical family, serving not only as a court singer under Elizabeth I, but also as court organist and chamber musician of her successor James I. He became one of England’s most important Renaissance composers, leaving behind an impressive instrumental and vocal oeuvre.
The Silver Swan shows Gibbons at his best as a madrigalist: he refrains from indulging in frivolities, unlike Morley and Weelkes who had eagerly taken their cue from Italian models, working instead with sublime counterpoint and a more serious approach in the tradition of William Byrd. Everything sprinkled with some ‘wit’, of course. Thus we hear in The Silver Swan, a lament on ‘modern’ life: “More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.” However, by contrast intelligence and elegance will be abundantly  offered  by The Spirit of Gambo instrumentalists who managed to persuade two icons of early music, Emma Kirkby and Claron McFadden, to join them. An absolute must!
 
30 August, 2013 18:00 -- AMUZ

Vox Luminis

The great revelation of Laus Polyphoniae 2012 returns with a selection from the most beautiful Tudor music for services. Getting pride of place: Thomas Morley and Thomas Weelkes with ingenious polyphony of a restrained beauty.
Singing is praying twice: this belief was also assumed by the Church of England. Small wonder that numerous composers throughout the ages have set to music texts from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for the morning, evening and funeral services! Famous examples are found in the oeuvre of Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, but Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Morley, too, can be counted among this select group of toppers.
Of all great composers from the Elizabethan era Thomas Weelkes wrote the greatest number of Anglican ‘services’, most of them meant for the evening prayer or Evensong.
Premised on these functions Weelkes created a baffling variation of forms, structures and styles – leading up to the masterly O Lord, grant the king a long life and the special service ‘in medio chori’ (with central positioning of the singers between the choir stalls). Thomas Morley’s services, too, are reminiscent of the works of the golden era of Elizabethan music with references to Tallis, Tye and Byrd, offering a wide gamut of forms and styles: from Edwardian seriousness to Elizabethan grace. Colour and emotion: these are also the strong points of Lionel Meunier’s Vox Luminis, which will offer a sequel to its splendid festival debut of 2012!
 

30 August, 2013 20:15 -- St.-Andrieskerk

Concertos para Bebés

0 - 5 jaar

The Portuguese best seller Concertos para Bebés enables babies, toddlers and under five to familiarize themselves with classical music. The first visit of ensemble Musicalmente to Antwerp in the summer of 2011 was a smashing hit. This time the recorder ensemble Mezzaluna joins this interactive performance for the littlest ones. Be sure to book early!The Concertos para Bebés happen on a play area in the middle of the hall. Around the musicians there are cushions for the young audience and their parents. Most children like to stay on the lap of mom or dad, but the most adventurous ones also venture among the musicians. No restrictions! Just like singing along, clapping hands, and most of all: actively discovering! In line with the festival theme of Laus Polyphoniae 2013 the musicians bring classical music from the reign of Elizabeth I.

In collaboration with Musica, Impulse Centre for Music.

31 August, 2013 09:00 -- Theaterzaal Tutti Fratelli

Concertos para Bebés

0 - 5 jaar

The Portuguese best seller Concertos para Bebés enables babies, toddlers and under five to familiarize themselves with classical music. The first visit of ensemble Musicalmente to Antwerp in the summer of 2011 was a smashing hit. This time the recorder ensemble Mezzaluna joins this interactive performance for the littlest ones. Be sure to book early!The Concertos para Bebés happen on a play area in the middle of the hall. Around the musicians there are cushions for the young audience and their parents. Most children like to stay on the lap of mom or dad, but the most adventurous ones also venture among the musicians. No restrictions! Just like singing along, clapping hands, and most of all: actively discovering! In line with the festival theme of Laus Polyphoniae 2013 the musicians bring classical music from the reign of Elizabeth I.

In collaboration with Musica, Impulse Centre for Music.

31 August, 2013 14:00 -- Theaterzaal Tutti Fratelli

Gallicantus

19:15
Introduction by
Nele Gabriëls
(Dutch spoken)

In the company of Gallicantus Laus Polyphoniae looks beyond Elizabeth I ahead into the future, to the tragic death of Henry, the eldest son of Elizabeth’s successor James I. Laments and passion music in which the stiff upper lip attitude yields to the emotional sob. 
After a fall into the Thames and a short sickbed eighteen-year old crown prince Harry passed away on 6 November 1612. The nation went into shock: quite unexpectedly it lost a strong and attractive figure who could have piloted the country through political gales. Poetical and musical eulogies did not fail to materialize, including masterpieces by Thomas Weelkes and Robert Ramsey.
Ramsey’s Dialogues of Sorrow are explicitly linked to Henry’s death: it is an elaborated madrigal in six sections reminiscent of the opulent polyphony of past master Orlandus Lassus, not only structurally but in terms of quality as well. Also in Passions on the Death of Prince Henry, a madrigal trilogy of Thomas Ford, William Cranford and John Ward, bitter tears are shed for the young prince. Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Weelkes, for their part, evoke for their dirges the biblical analogy with king David’s sorrow for his son Absalom as well as his lamentation about Saul and Jonathan. Gallicantus gathered this repertoire in a laureled recording and will act as Master of Ceremonies at this musical wake in subdued tones.   
 
31 August, 2013 18:00 -- AMUZ