“On est frappé par l’aspect extrêmement vif, festif, jubilatoire de cette musique, et par l’énergie des interprètes. Les syncopes et les hémioles sont nombreuses, les chanteurs esquissent souvent des pas de danse.”
Stephane Reecht – ResMusica
“Le programme de cette soirée, centré autour du thème de Noël, révèle la richesse de ces répertoires trop méconnus. Du Magnificat de Francisco Correa de Araujo, où le temps se trouve comme suspendu, aux pièces festives en rythmes syncopés très hispaniques, les pièces aux caractères très contrastés s’enchaînent presque sans interruption.”
Rémi Clavier – Olyrix, 2022
After the conquest of the Americas, Spanish and Portuguese ecclesiastics and musicians exported their polyphonic traditions to the new lands. Musicians like Juan de Araujo and Tomas de Torrejon y Velasco settled in Latin America (Peru and Argentia, respectively). Others were born in the New World, like Gaspar Fernández, who spent his entire career in his native Mexico. The music libraries of Latin American churches have conserved a large number of manuscripts. Some contain pieces that have long been lost in Europe.
While these musicians brought their skills as polyphonists to the “New World”, they were also intrigued by local popular traditions. They even adapted the texts of the Catholic liturgy to local languages. This programme showcases this movement in the Iberian polyphonic tradition and also documents the travels of the musicians in Europe, including the Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria, whose stay in Rome allowed him to immerse himself in the style of the papal household.
With his usual musical flair, Leonardo García Alarcón turns this sacred programme into a hymn to divinity, carried by frenzied rhythms and unchained performers.
Sacred and popular music of Baroque South America. Works by Romero, de Araujo, Flecha, Victoria and de Salazar.
Performance running time: approx. 1 hour
Mariana Flores, soprano
Leandro Marziotte, countertenor
Valerio Contaldo, tenor
Matteo Bellotto, bass
Cappella Mediterranea
Chœur de chambre de Namur
Leonardo García Alarcón, conductor
A production created in 2012 in Namur as part of the Festival de Wallonie.