The Czech group Cappella Mariana has been applying itself since 2008 to polyphonic pearls. Together with artistic director Vojtech Semerád the singers, among them soprano Hana Blažíková, cherished by AMUZ, always vouch for an expressive performance of the music. Semerad got steeped in the thirteen Alamire manuscripts that the Austrian National Library boasts, selecting music that was written for the Hapsburg court of Maximilian of Austria. He juxtaposes Pierre de la Rues Missa de Sancta Cruce with motets by Antoine Brumel, Antoine de Févin and Jean Mouton.

25 August, 2015 13:00 -- amuz

Join the fun-loving company on Monday 24, Tuesday 25 or Wednesday 26 August between 6:00 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. for a picnic in the garden of Peter Paul Rubens. You can order a basket with delicacies and wine for two persons:

Toasted farmhouse bread with monastery cheese

Belgian cheese and meat platter

Leek and bacon pie

Cream cheese with chives and radishes

Mixed salad

Fresh fruit

Pastry and dessert

Choice of rosé, red or white wine or Trappist beer

25 August, 2015 18:00 -- rubenshuis

Encounter polyphony as you have never heard it before in an astonishing dialogue between organist Marnix De Cat and the saxophone of BL!NDMAN frontman Eric Sleichim. The cathedrals monumental Metzler organ simply melts into the sweetness of Adolphe Sax invention. The two partners in crime selected the six-part Angeli archangeli throni by Heinrich Isaac and various settings of the Lhomme armé melody by Pierre de La Rue, Mathurin Forestier, Josquin des Prez and Jacob Obrecht from the Petrus Alamire corpus. They set about these pieces with unusual instrumentation (prepare yourself for spectacular live electronics) which they use to dissect the polyphonic part writing and form. Eric Sleichim has written Defiant Angels especially for the occasion. Like Frans Floris painting The Fall of the Rebel Angels, with its tangle of entwined bodies, it is a piece that defies the laws of gravity.

25 August, 2015 20:00 -- o-l-v-kathedraal

After the unique nocturnes with Jan Decleir and Marco Beasley viol player Thomas Baeté will take over this year in the pleasant painters studio of Peter Paul Rubens. Together with keyboard player Guillermo Pérez he introduces us into the fascinating world of the simplest polyphony, that of the 2-voice bicinium. The poetic confluence of music, word and painting is inspired by Theun de Vries and his inexhaustible novel The motet for the cardinal. Actor Vic De Wachter evokes the world of the polyphonists, the travels of the singers from the court chapels and the experiences in the newly founded Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Dutch spoken

25 August, 2015 22:15 -- rubenshuis

This lecture sketches out the research done by the Alamire Foundation into the music manuscripts of Petrus Alamire. Staff members will present the manuscripts, tell you about their wonderful experience of digitalising it in the Vatican and elsewhere, and explain how this heritage is being made available through the digital database IDEM (Integrated Database for Early Music). After five hundred years, all Petrus Alamires manuscripts, which are currently scattered across Europe, will be brought back together using todays digital methods. Making the manuscripts available in this way will make it easier for many re- searchers and performers to access this unique source material and make new research possible.

Dutch spoken

26 August, 2015 13:00 -- amuz

Faithful to custom you can enjoy a well-assorted festival menu (entree + main course) before the evening concerts in AMUZ. Pop-up bistro t Hof van Petrus will serve regional delicacies from the Low Countries.

Festival menu

On Thursday 20, Friday 21, Monday 24, Wednesday 26 and Saturday 29 August at 18.00, before the evening concerts at AMUZ.

Place: AMUZ foyer, Kammenstraat 81, 2000 Antwerp

Choice of starters: Salad with baked goats cheese, apples and honey OR savoury pancake with chicken, cheese and mushroom filling

Choice of main courses: Half a chicken roasted on a spit with fresh salad, baked potatoes and a sauce of your choice (pepper cream or provencal) or apple OR grilled fillet of salmon on a bed of rocket and tomato with baked potatoes OR grilled vegetables of yesteryear and melted Trappist cheese in puff pastry with fresh salad.

Price: € 21 (starter + main course)

Advance reservation required. Desserts available on the evening for € 6.

Concert tickets are not included. Advance booking is required.

26 August, 2015 18:00 -- amuz