Fall 2003

Music for the holidays from old and new Spain

The program includes folk and classical selections by European and Native American composers, reflecting the diverse musical heritage of 16th-17th century Imperial Spain, in Latin, Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Quechua, Nahuatl and Ladino.
Program notes

Verbum Caro Factum Est, Villancios de diversos autores, 1556
Ave Virgo Sanctissima, by Juan Navarro (1530 – 1580)
Cuando el Rey Nimrod, Sefardic folksong, anonymous
Birjina Gaztettobat, traditional Basque carol, arr. 1895
Oi Betleem!, traditional Basque carol, arr. 1895
El Desembre Congelat, traditional Catalan carol
El Noi de la Mare, 16th century Catalan folksong, anonymous
De la Piel de Sus Ovejas, by Pedro Rimonte (1565-1627)
Serenissima Una Noche, by Fray Gerónimo Gonzáles (17th century)
Hanacpachap Cussisuinin, Quechua hymn, anonymous
Sancta Maria, Nahuatl Motet, by Don Hernando Franco (1522 – 1580)
A Este Sol Peregrino, by Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco (1644-1728)

Spring 2004

MADRIGALS ON THE EDGE

EXPERIMENTAL CHORAL MUSIC OF THE 17th, 20th, and 21st CENTURIES

Around the year 1600, the Italian madrigal reached its full flower, only to expire shortly thereafter. This concert will focus on the works of three innovators of this period, contrasting the early and later work of Giaches de Wert (1535-1596), Don Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa (ca. 1560-1613) and Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643).

Through extreme contrasts in vocal register, unexpected chord progressions, pungent dissonances, extravagant text-painting and alternations of polyphony and homphony, the late madrigalists extended the genre’s expressive potential. The program will also include two modern settings of Renaissance English texts by Morton Lauridsen and a newly commissioned work by Jason Rosenberg.

Chi salira per me, Wert
Caro, amoroso neo, Gesualdo
Forsennata Gridava, Wert
Baci soavi e cari Monteverdi
Lamento della ninfa, Monteverdi
Zefiro torna, Monteverdi
Sfogava con le stelle, Monteverdi
Si, ch’io vorrei morire, Monteverdi
Languisco e moro, Gesualdo
To One that Desired to Know My Mistris, Lauridsen
Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount, Lauridsen,
The Loon on Oak-Head Pond, Rosenberg
Ecco mormorar l’onde, Monteverdi