#1 De Profundis: Italian & German Music
including the famous Fili mi Absalom by Heinrich Schütz
with Harry van der Kamp, bass
2 cornetti, 4 trombones, organ, theorbo
(8 + soloist/ 9 total)
Music of Francesco Usper, Simon Vesi, Tarquinio Merula, Heinrich Schütz, Andreas Hammerschmidt, Johann Rudolf Ahle, Thomas Selle, and others.
“De profundis - out of the depths”: We have given this title to a program featuring concerted solo music for bass voice and wind ensemble. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries the bass register was especially favored for virtuoso singing, and some of the greatest soloists of the new expressive Baroque style were basses. Though basses were cautioned to be prudent in the use of ornaments (since their part was the “foundation of all music”) these solo pieces often defy such admonitions, indulging in exuberant passage-work while at the same time showing great subtlety of expression. Often trombones were used as obbligato instruments, creating a splendidly sonorous ensemble sound as in the incomparable setting of Fili me Absolon by H. Schütz. In other pieces two cornetts are used as a dazzling contrast as in the brilliant setting of De Profundis by the Milanese composer Sisto Reina also featured on this program.
No contemporary bass singer has more experience in singing this music, and none has more ability to express its pathos. This concert is a celebration of over 20 years of collaboration between Harry van der Kamp and Concerto Palatino.
#2 Venezia transalpina
Johannette Zomer, soprano
Harry van der Kamp, bass
17th century sacred music in the Shadow of Venice
2 cornetti, 2 violins, 4 trombones, organ, theorbo (12)
In music the 17th century was an Italian century. At St. Mark’s in Venice, music played from the organ lofts soared and echoed off the mosaic-encrusted vaults to create magical tapestry of sound. In a
larger sense, the echoes of those musicians were heard for half a century and on both sides of the Alps. Such was the reputation of Giovanni Gabrieli that a generation of musicians carried his music to the furthest corners of Europe. In this concert, Concerto Palatino begins at St. Mark’s with works of Gabrieli and his contemporaries and then follows the echoes of this style across northern Italy and
northward to Dresden and Hamburg. The cornetti, violins and trombones of Concerto Palatino will be joined by soprano Johannette Zomer and bass Harry van der Kamp to explore music of Gabrieli,
Merula, Cazzati, Schein, Schütz, and Rosenmüller. Highlights will include double choir canzonas of Giovanni Gabrieli, the brilliantly quirky motets for solo voice and two cornetti of Merula and Cazzati,
the majestically passionate Fili mi Absalon of Schütz for bass and four trombones, and the gorgeously sonorous motets of Schein from his Opella Nova.
#3 Music for a Doge
Ceremonial Music from 17th century Venice
4 voices, cornetto, 2 violins, 4 trombones, organ, theorbo (13)
When played beneath the magnificent mosaic-covered vaults of the great basilica of St. Mark’s in Venice, music echoes from the furthest corners and chapels in a magical way – echoes softened and diffused by the thousands of stone fragments comprising the mosaics. Concerto Palatino believes that this music will also create a magical experience. This is music written between 1590 and 1630 for the Doge’s own chapel – music meant to reflect the magnificence of this extraordinary lagoon city. The concert program will include multi-choir motets and canzonas of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli, GiovanniBattista Grillo, and Giovanni Picchi, as well as smaller-scale vocal and instrumental music by Dario Castello, Giovanni Bassano and Claudio Monteverdi.