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PROGRAMMES
2 0 1 1 - 2 0 1 2 season
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Period: 2010 - 2015
The Egidius Kwartet has blown the dust off an important piece of Dutch national heritage
For over four hundred years the city of Leiden has held a hidden treasure of immense musical value. Hardly anyone knew of its existence, even in Leiden itself. We are talking about six enormous choirbooks, compiled for the singers of the 16th-century College of the Seven Canonical Hours of the Pieterskerk (St. Peter's Church). Together they represent a rare legacy, and form one of the largest comprehensive collections of 16th century religious music. Moreover, they contain works by some of the most illustrious composers of the age. How can it be that this wealth of music remained unheard for so long?
The Egidius Kwartet has taken the initiative to rectify this. Over a period of six years, by means of an annual series of concerts, CD recordings and a website, they are resurrecting this unique piece of Dutch national heritage from the archives.
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| Performers: |
Egidius Kwartet & College |
| For more details, visit |
www.leidsekoorboeken.nl |
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| The Ravaged City |
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In 586 BC, the prophet Jeremiah bewails the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. His gloomy texts are timeless because war and destruction are of all times. During the turbulent sixteenth century, impressive polyphonic settings of these laments were written. 500 years ago, these polyphonic lamentations appeared in print for the first time. In 1506, The Italian printer Petrucci published two books of Jeremiah's polyphonic lamentations. This was the beginning of the development of a much-loved genre in that century, which reached its climax in the expressive lamentations by Orlandus Lassus. The quartet sets these old sorrowful laments in a broader context. Between the lamentations, we hear scraps of one Da Costa’s Battle of Nieuwpoort, the sound of gas bombs during the first World War, Reverend Buskes after the bombing of Rotterdam, President Truman on Hiroshima, Reverend Martin Luther King on Vietnam and a CNN reporter describing the events in New York on 11 September 2001. Thus, the lamentations are given a modern perspective, creating a moment of reflection and remembrance, both in musical and ethical terms.
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| Performers: |
Egidius Kwartet & N.N., bass |
| Details: |
pdf (82 Kb) |
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Continuous programmes
| Music for Townspeople and Countryfolk |
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Period: all year round
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| Performers: |
Egidius Kwartet |
| Details: |
pdf (51 Kb) |
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| In Praise of Feminine Beauty |
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Period: all year round
In the 16th century, songs were written about almost every part of the female body. Top composers such as di Lasso, Janequin and Sweelinck and their lesser known colleagues have sung the praise of brown eyes, golden hair, red lips and long necks in poetic or rather more graphic language. New epigrams have been written by the contemporary poet Luuk Gruwez, and the programme concludes with a moral: Goudimel’s chanson about the relationship between body and soul. |
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| Performers: |
Egidius Kwartet |
| Programme details |
pdf (82 Kb) |
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| Noël! |
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Period: Christmas (of course!)
What can we say about Christmas carols?
As primitive as they are, it is an almost intoxicating pleasure to sing and listen to them. Do we have to explain yet again that we are Renaissance specialists? That is not what you want to hear in December, and nor do we. We sing in December simply because it is so heavenly to sing Christmas music. And that is a curious fact: you recognize Christmas music straight away, and that has nothing to do with all the bells and glorias. Intimacy and warmth... it is all there. From William Walton to Gheerkin de Hondt, from the American parson Burt to the priest Clemens non Papa. The great Dutch writer Godfried Bomans tries to explain the Christmas feeling. His reflections run like a thread through this eclectic programme.
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| Performers: |
Egidius Kwartet |
| Details: |
pdf (39 Kb) |
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