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Laus Polyphoniae

VOX\VOCES, monophonic\polyphonic

Monophonic and polyphonic music are inextricably linked. Why is that? Laus Polyphoniae 2024 can’t wait to investigate for you.

 

VOX\VOCES, monophonic\polyphonic puts the relationship between monophony and polyphony under a crystal lens. There is plenty to discover, because singers and composers have been inspired by monophonic melodies since the 12th century. The panorama of VOX\VOCES stretches all the way into the 17th century, covering more than 500 years of music and more than 30 generations of music makers!

Those who dig deep down into the riches of polyphony find astonishing foundations. After all, polyphonic constructions may be based on the most varied of melodies, from popular sing-along tunes to meandering Gregorian plainchant. Little folk tunes even turn up in polyphonic devotional hymns and complex, polyphonic masses, such as Jacob Obrecht’s Missa Scaramella. Yet liturgical hymns also lend themselves perfectly to disguise. Polyphonists often used Gregorian melodies as a cantus firmus: the ‘sturdy song’ upon or around which new voices were modelled. Now and then, a melody clearly shows its face before hiding again in the voices that surround it. At times that was cause for scepticism and disapproval. In the 16th century, this criticism bubbled all the way up into the highest echelons of the Church, with the Vatican threatening to ban polyphony. Fortunately, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was there with a mass of papal grandeur that turned him into the ‘saviour of polyphony’ and the paragon of the Italian High Renaissance.

So there is plenty for Laus Polyphoniae 2024 to get its teeth into: dozens of concerts that present a mouthwatering banquet of sound. This year, as ever, we have sought and found a perfect match between performers and repertoire. Exciting talents and fascinating figures of great eminence are eager to get to work with historical sources such as the Codex Calixtinus, the Basevi Codex and Heinrich Isaac’s most extensive work, the Choralis Constantinus. Big names like Huelgas Ensemble, Stile Antico, Cappella Pratensis and Vox Luminis stand shoulder to shoulder with young ensembles such as the Gesualdo Six and Diskantores. We focus proudly on Flemish talent with graindelavoix, Utopia and Dionysos Now! while putting the cream of the international early music scene in the spotlight, including Cut Circle (USA), Sollazzo Ensemble (FR/CH), PER-SONAT (DE), Binchois Consort (UK), Cantoría (ES) and AUXantiqua (AT).

VOX\VOCES is also a tribute to the interplay of performance practice and research that colours the very DNA of our festival. Researchers from Stanford (USA), Glasgow (UK), Linneaus (SE) and Leuven (BE) universities have explored the relationship between monophony and polyphony, stimulating the minds of ever-curious musicians. The Alamire Foundation, the international centre for the study of music in the Low Countries, has played a key role with The Sound of Music, a project that facilitates strategic basic research (FWO) into the link between Gregorian plainchant and polyphony in order to build new bridges between heritage and creation – from present-day music archaeology to contemporary sound installations.

The most beautiful venues in Antwerp, the most astonishing voices and the most stunningly woven musical fabrics: Laus Polyphoniae is pure luxury for the listener. Welcome!

 

Practical:

Ticket sales start online on March 9 at 9 am. If you cannot order online, you can go to AMUZ between 10 am and 12 noon. Are you a Friend of AMUZ? Then, as one of the friend benefits, you can book tickets in advance a few days faster.

The program

Stile Antico – Géry de Ghersem

23 August 2024 20:00

International Young Artist’s Presentation (IYAP)

24 August 2024 10:00

Cappella Pratensis & Wim Diepenhorst – Heinrich Isaac

24 August 2024 20:00

Sollazzo Ensemble – Francesco Landini

24 August 2024 22:15

Philip Gröning – Die große Stille (film)

25 August 2024 14:30

PER-SONAT – Jacobus

25 August 2024 20:00

Dorothee Mields & Boreas Quartett Bremen – Basevi codex

25 August 2024 22:15

Utopia Ensemble – Jacobus Vaet

26 August 2024 13:00

graindelavoix – Media vita

26 August 2024 20:00

Huelgas Ensemble – Blasius Ammon

26 August 2024 22:15

The Gesualdo Six – An early English tapestry

27 August 2024 13:00

Cut Circle – Josquin

27 August 2024 20:00

AUXantiqua & I Fedeli – A8

27 August 2024 22:15

Lezing Jesse Rodin, Stanford University

28 August 2024 13:00

Vox Luminis – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

28 August 2024 20:00

Dionysos Now! – (c)-odes

28 August 2024 22:15

Ensemble Peregrina & Gemma – Simple gifts

29 August 2024 13:00

Huelgas Ensemble – Christophoro Martino & Girolamo Lambardi

29 August 2024 20:00

Dulces Exuviae – Toutes les nuits

29 August 2024 22:15

Diskantores – Oltremontani

30 August 2024 13:00

Profeti della Quinta – Emilio de’ Cavalieri

30 August 2024 20:00

Cantoría – Juan Navarro: vespers

30 August 2024 22:15

Klankennest – Baby Pärt

31 August 2024 09:30

Klankennest – Baby Pärt

31 August 2024 11:00

Lezing Fabrice Fitch, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

31 August 2024 11:00

Klankennest – Baby Pärt

31 August 2024 15:00

Comet Musicke – Diego Ortiz: Caleidoscopio

31 August 2024 20:00

Binchois Consort – Jacob Obrecht

31 August 2024 22:15

Klankennest – Baby Pärt

01 September 2024 09:30

Klankennest – Baby Pärt

01 September 2024 11:00

Slotconcert Summerschool

01 September 2024 11:00

Klankennest – Baby Pärt

01 September 2024 15:00

Sollazzo Ensemble – Cantano gli angeli

01 September 2024 20:00

The archive of Laus Polyphoniae

Consult the program books of previous editions

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