Editions Performed in European Early Music Day
Tomorrow, March 21st, is seventh edition of the European Day for Early Music. I will be participating, although indirectly, with Grupo Vocal Olisipo for whom I have prepared several editions of eighteenth-century vocal polyphony by composers of Évora Cathedral.
The ensemble will give a concert at the Church of S. Pedro de Alcântara, Lisbon, at 19h00 (local time), that will be broadcast in the Portuguese classical radio channel Antena 2 (live streaming is available HERE). Grupo Vocal Olisipo will perform a very interesting programme in my opinion, titled “The Heritage of Évora Cathedral”, comprising works by composers that were active and in various ways associated with Évora. It opens with two responsories pro defunctis by Estêvão Lopes Morago (Libera me, Domine* and Credo quod Redemptor*), followed by responsories for Good Friday by Francisco Martins (Omnes amici mei, Velum templi, Tenebrae factae sunt and Caligaverunt oculi mei). Diogo Dias Melgaz closes this part of the programme dedicated to the seventeeenth century with two motets: Adjuva nos Deus and Salve Regina. Pedro Vaz Rego’s psalm Beati omnes* is followed the Lenten motets by Afonso Lobo* (Ductus est Jesus, Assumpsit Jesus, Erat Jesus ejiciens and Cum sublevasset) and André Rodrigues Lopo’s motet Sepulto Domino for Good Friday. The concert ends with two late-eighteenth-century-to-early-nineteenth-century composers – Francisco José Perdigão and Miguel Anjo do Amaral – the first one with three motets for Advent* (Amen dico vobis, Cum audisset Joannes and Omnis vallis implebitur) and the motet Dicebat Jesus* by the latter.
As I mentioned in other posts, to be able to participate in concert programmes like this is still not a frequent thing around here, so I’m very happy to be part of it and hopefully there will be videos of these rare polyphonic works from Évora Cathedral, such as the Miguel Anjo do Amaral motet that Grupo Vocal Olisipo shared on their facebook page from the Madeira rehearsal:
https://www.facebook.com/GVOlisipo/videos/264092957845037/
* works I edited for the Editions of Movimento Patrimonial pela Música Portuguesa and that will be available soon at the webstore (news about the publication will be given here).