Tage Alter Musik – Almanach 2019

andrewbensonwilson.org 11 Suite (No 3 in D) that we heard the day be- fore, although their playing and the acoustic made their performance considerably more impressive, not least because of the clarity of the individual voices. Aureliusz Goliński also impressed as the first violinist. The main evening concert (in the Basilika St. Emmeram) was given by the Chœur de Chambre de Namur & Cappella Mediter- ranea from Belgium, directed by Leonardo García Alarcón . Their programme Carmina Latina – a sound journey to the NewWorld explored the fascinating music of the Spanish and Portuguese composers, most living in the New World. A sequence of well-known pieces pioneered by the likes of Ex Cathedra in the UK was contrasted with lesser-known music by, for example, the Seville organist Francisco Correa de Araujo (or Arauxo) (his impressive polyphonic Magnificat and a ver- sion of his organ Canto llano de la Inmacu- lada concepción with recorder divisions and percussion) and Juan de Araujo, organist of Cusco Cathedral in Peru and Sucre Cathedral in present-day Bolivia. The four singers and seven instrumentalists of Cappella Mediter- ranea combined with the 12-strong Chœur de Chambre de Namur to produce a fascinat- ing range of sounds. Soprano Mariana Flores and the three Namur sopranos were particu- larly impressive (the former notably in Romero’s Romerico florido , with its flamenco- style guitar background) as were the instru- mentalists Rodrigo Calveyra, zink & recorder, Quito Gato, guitar & theorbo, and Marie Bournisien, harp. The combination of traditional polyphony and local musical influences produced an id- iomatic musical genre, with many more pieces awaiting discovery. This concert fo- cussed on music found in music libraries of the churches in Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. It opened with the wonderfully evocative processional Hanacpachap cussicuinin. Alongside the more serious religious pieces were lively acted-out scenes such as La Bomba and Salga el torillo. The Sunday late night concert was in the Re- ichssaal, now mercifully a little cooler than before. The USA group Piffaro, The Renais- sance Band gave their programme Back to the time before Bach – Musical Travel . The five core members of the groups were ex- panded by five guest players, the ten of them listed as playing nearly 40 instruments be- tween them. The sheer logistics of their hot- desking the music stands was an achieve- ment in itself. Bach’s family roots were in the Stadtpfeiffer musical tradition, his father be- ing Stadtpfeiffer (in Lübeck and Arnstadt) as was his father-in-law and godfather (in Zeitz &Weißenfels and Gotha respectively). Their programme was focussed on different ver- sions of Stadtpfeiffer pieces, including Christ ist erstanden (from the Glogauer songbook, Heinrich Isaac, Heinrich Finck, Johann Walther, Michael Praetorius and Bach), Heinrich Isaac’s Innsbruck, ich muess dich lassen (with arrangements by Joan Kimball), and A solis ortus/Christum will sollen loben- schon (from Johann Walter, Samuel Scheidt, Michael Praetorius, and Bach). There was a wonderful range of Renaissance instrumental colour, one particularly attrac- tive combination being bagpipes and recorder followed by dulzians at the start of the Innsbruck sequence. That group ended closer to home with Zu Regensburg, an anonymous piece from the 16th-century manuscript. In contrast, the A solis ortus car- dine sequence was played throughout on recorders. starting with the simple chant melody and finished with Bach’s chorale Christum will sollen lobenschon. Melchior Frank’s Da pacem, Domine returned to the louder instruments of pommer, posaune, dulzian and zink, including a splendid low bass. They finished with a sequence of Ger- man Renaissance dance pieces by Johann Giro, Samuel Scheidt, and Michael Praeto- rius. An excellent concert. Piffaro (Kiri Tollaksen links) im Reichssaal