Martina Burger, Katarina Kodele, Kristina Bitenc, Barbara Tišler: soprano
Tatjana Vasle, Alenka Bobek, Špela Vrtačnik, Valentina Ovnič, Vita Hribar:  alto
Polona Češarek, Matevž Kajdiž, Janez Rozman, Blaž Tomšič, Metod Palčič, Igor Novak: tenor
Darko Vidic, Janko Potočnik, Primož Krt, Tomaž Zadnikar, Matej Kališnik: bass
Domen Marinčič: violone
Tomaž Sevšek: chest organ
Dejan Pevčevič: narrator

Sebastjan Vrhovnik: conductor

Programme:

In Domino speravit cor meum
(OM: 1/83)

Sv. Trojica

Duo Seraphim clamabant
(OM: 3/1)

Gloria tibi Trinitas
(OM: 3/2)

Benedicamus Patrem et Filium
(OM: 3/5)

O beata Trinitas, tibi laus
(OM: 3/13)

O beata Trinitas coaequalis una Deitas
(OM: 3/19)

In voce exultationis resonet epulantes
(OM: 3/11)

Sv. Marija

Sancta et immaculata virginis
(OM: 4/37, à 6)

Nativitatem Beatem Mariae Virginis,
4/34, à 6

Ave Maria,
4/39, à 6

(Elisabethae vero impletum est tempus (OM: 4/20))

Odmor

Madrigali à 4

Si vox est canta, si mollia brachia salta
(HM: 2/22)

Si prolixa facit sapientem barba
(HM: 2/24)

Vos, qui nulla datis
(HM: 2/27)

Nemo placet stultis
(HM: 2/29)

In terra summus rex
(HM: 3/34)

Archipoeta facit versus
(HM: 3/36)

O mors
(HM: 3/42)

En ego campana
(HM: 3/43)

Madrigali à 6

Cui bene succedit
(M: 13)

Noli laudari
(M: 14)

Cui sunt multa bona
(M:16)

Quam bene apud memores
(M: 42)

Plus laudatori
(M:47)

Musica Musarum germana
(M:29)

OM: Opus musicum
HM: Harmoniae morales
M: Moralia
 

About the Programme:
The period in which Jacobus Gallus was working was an extraordinarily fertile one for European music, for it is in the second half of the 16th century that the polyphonic music of the Renaissance reaches its technical and expressive peak. Gallus was the most important Slovene contemporary of the renowned group of late-Renaissance European masters who were discovering new possibilities of expression within the bounds of classical polyphony. And this is precisely where Gallus can be placed in the foreground, as a composer who despite his extraordinary knowledge of Renaissance compositional principles often circumvents them in a revolutionary way for the sake of expressiveness. His works are characterised by the equal weight given to words and music. For Gallus, the text as a whole is important. He illuminates the text with a variety of musical elements: harmony, rhythm, and above all melody, which makes his works so unique and interesting – for both performer and listener.

The first part of tonight's concert programme will consist of motets from Gallus' vast collection entitled Opus musicum (Musical Work – four books published between 1585 and 1591 containing a total of 374 motets), where the composer incorporated motets for the whole cycle of the ecclesiastical year. The introductory motet In Domino speravit cor meum takes us first into Lententide, where the music, in keeping with the text, is chant-like and only in places interwoven with brief imitations. With enormous compositional skill, in line with the development of the text, the composer effortlessly leads the initial melancholy into a sense of trusting anticipation. The Lent motet, which appeared in the third volume of the first book, is followed by motets collected in the first volume of the third book under the title De sancta Trinitate et de Corpore Christi. The volume includes 26 compositions and contains motets dedicated to the Feast of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi. With this third book Gallus completed the cycle of the ecclesiastical year, thus fulfilling a principal liturgical function by supplementing the feast-day liturgy with music. The other motets in the programme are from the fourth book, where Gallus arranged his compositions not by content but by the number of voices. Despite this arrangement, all the volumes have the same internal structure, where in the first group we find today's three motets, extolling Our Lady. The concluding eight-part motet Elisabethe vero impletum est tempus describes the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist, to whom Gallus devoted five separate compositions, by far the largest number dedicated to a single saint. This motet is an extremely interesting composition in two sections. In the first section Gallus illustrates in dramatic fashion the determined nequaquam (by no means) of St Elizabeth, who insisted that her son's name was John and not Zacharias, as her relatives wanted. In the second section, the urgings of the relatives continue and pressure is also brought to bear on the child's father, who at last gives way and agrees to name his son John. Gallus illustrates the entire progress of the story with frequent repetitions and coloratura passages. The second half of the concert presents us with selected madrigals from the three volumes of Harmoniae morales (Moral Harmonies – 1589, 1590 and 1590; 53 madrigals) and the posthumous collection Moralia (1596, 47 madrigals). In the first, symbolic madrigal Si vox est, canta (Sing, if you have a voice), the text urges the singer to delight his surroundings with the gift of his voice and the art of vocal polyphony. Common to all the following madrigals is the fact that the texts are taken from the anthology of medieval proverbs and aphorisms Carmina proverbalia (Basle, 1576), which are still topical even in today's globalised world. The text of the madrigal Cui sunt multa bona tells us: "Who has much shall be given the most gifts. Here it is the custom of the people to offer bread to the wealthy. Those who have enough shall have even more. From everywhere it is brought, given, bought for them, while the poor man remains empty-handed." The second part of the concert concludes with a hymn to the art of music, Musica Musarum germana.
So long live Music, which gladdens human souls, long live Music, dear to the highest God.

Sebastjan Vrhovnik