Sacred and secular vocal music of the Renaissance

From one to the other… Italy at the Renaissance, a land of refuge and inspiration.

In 2022, the third program of the cycle « Entre pierres et mer » takes us to Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, Mantua, Ferrare and Naples, all cities where, under the protection of some renowned families, the musical art flourished in the 16th century. The Papal Court but also the Houses of Sforza, of Gonzaga, of Medici or the House of Este managed to support a considerable number of musicians coming from Flanders, France, England or Spain. Italy was a land of refuge for them, a compulsory step for a dawning or confirmed career. This is how cantors, composers (which often went hand in hand at the time) and music publishers came to enhance their training and their reputation. Some came and stayed, others just passed by and left with new forms in their luggage, a second practice and some artistic influences which will help nourish the music of all Europe.

Motets by Jehan Lhéritier, Jacques Arcadelt, Orlande de Lassus, Peter Philips, Cristobal de Moralès, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Francesco Guerrero…

11th concert cycle « Entre pierres et mer »

In 2022, Les Voix Animées are celebrating Italy by dedicating their concert cycle to the composers of the Cinquecento and by paying a particular tribute to two major composers of the Renaissance, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Giaches de Wert.

These two masters, through an absolute art of the counterpoint, made the music of the Papal Chapel spread, as well as the music of the House of Gonzaga in Mantua. Their leading light inspired a generation of musicians and accompanied, throughout all Europe, the transformation of the Renaissance’s « stile antico » to the Baroque’s « stile nuovo ».