Festive Cantatas Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra a Monteverdi Christmas Vespers
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J.S. BACH: THE CIRCLE OF CREATION FESTIVE CANTATAS TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA A MONTEVERDI CHRISTMAS VESPERS Alison Mackay creator, writer, programmer Elisa Citterio director Kevin Bundy narrator David Fallis music director “In these hands, Bach’s music feels more alive than ever.” The Globe and Mail AT VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE JAN25 This concert is generously supported by the Nemetz Foundation THE KING’S SINGERS ROYAL BLOOD: MUSIC FOR HENRY VIII AT THE CHAN CENTRE “The superlative vocal sextet.” The Times (London) DEC23 AT THE CHAN CENTRE FEB09 This concert is generously supported by Janette McMillan & Douglas Graves, Birgit Westergaard & Norman Gladstone Tickets from $36 | earl ymusic.bc.ca | 604.822.2697 This concert is generously supported by the Drance Family and Sharon E. Kahn 18.EarlyMusicAd 2018-10-23 11:33 AM Page 1 ODLUMBROWN.COM Odlum Brown Limited is Proud to Support Early Music Vancouver’s Festive Cantatas – A Monteverdi Christmas Vespers For over 95 years, Odlum Brown Limited has been one of BC’s most respected investment firms by helping investors achieve their financial goals for generations. Odlum Brown is a full-service investment firm providing disciplined investment advice and objective research with a singular focus on clients. For all your investment needs including financial, retirement and estate planning,* call 604-669-1600 or toll free at 1-888-886-3586, or visit odlumbrown.com for more information. *Offered through our wholly owned subsidiary, Odlum Brown Financial Services Limited. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, and a joyous new year! Odlum Brown Limited Odlum Brown Community @Odlum_Brown OdlumBrown Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund 2 | EMV Masterworks Series 2018/19 Festive Cantatas: A Monteverdi Christmas Vespers [email protected] the artists a monteverdi christmas vespers David Fallis Claudio Monteverdi music director (1567-1643) sopranos — I — Arwen Myers Versicle: Deus in adiutorium Danielle Sampson Response: Domine ad adiuvandum me festina (Alessandro Grandi) altos Vicki St. Pierre Nicholas Burns — II — Antiphon: Rex pacificus tenors Psalm 109: Dixit Dominum Colin Balzer Kevin Skelton Motet: Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius basses: Paul Grindlay — III — Martin Auclair Antiphon: Magnificatus est Psalm 110: Confitebor tibi with an Motet: O bone Jesu instrumental ensemble including Cappella Borealis — IV — and other musicians Antiphon: Completi sunt [see page 6] Psalm 111: Beatus vir Motet: Cantate Domino in association with — V — Antiphon: Scitote quia prope est regnum Dei Chan Endowment Fund at the University of Psalm 112: Laudate pueri British Columbia INTERVAL with the support of Motet: Salve Regina Sonata prima à 4 (Giovanni Battista Buonamente) generously supported by The Drance Family — VI — and Sharon E. Kahn Antiphon: Levate capita vestra Psalm 116: Laudate dominum omnes gentes Pre-concert introduction at 2:15 Motet: Canzonetta spirituale sopra alla nanna (Tarquinio Merula) with host Matthew White: David Fallis — VII — Hymn: Jesu redemptor omnium — VIII — THE UNAUTHORISED USE OF ANY VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDING Antiphon: Cum ortus fuerit DEVICE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED Magnificat à 8 earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: A Monteverdi Christmas Vespers EMV Masterworks Series 2018/19 | 3 E M V PARTNERSpartners Early Music Vancouver gratefully acknowledges the assistance and support of: board of directorsChris Guzy GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Chris Guzy Fran Watters president Fran WattersSpencer Corrigal , We acknowledge the support of vice president the Province of British Columbia Tony Knox Spencer Corrigal cpa,ca treasurer Ilia Korkh Tony Knox FOUNDATIONS past president Sherrill Grace Ilia Korkh THE BRENNAN SPANO Melody Mason FAMILY FOUNDATION secretary Jesse Read THE DRANCE FAMILY Sherrill GraceTim Rendell , EARLY MUSIC VANCOUVER FUND Melody MasonIngrid Söchting Tim Rendell cpa,caVincent Tan 2018-19 PRODUCTION PARTNERS Ingrid Söchting José Verstappen EMV’s performances at the Chan Centre are presented in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Vincent Tan Performing Arts, with the support of the Chan Endowment Fund at the University of British Columbia. ÷ pacific baroque José Verstappen cm orchestra alexander weimann artistic director emeritus MUSIC director ÷ Matthew White staff Nathan Lorch Matthew White executive & artistic directorJocelyn Peirce Nathan LorchLaina Tanahara ¡¢£ ¡£¤¥ ¢£ ¦¢¡¢ §: business manager Jonathan Evans Jocelyn Peirce development coordinator Jan Gates Laina Tanahara CORPORATE SUPPORT marketing & volunteer coordinator Murray Patterson Marketing Group Jonathan Evans Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel VANCOUVER, BC Tony Knox production coordinator Barrister & Solicitor, Arbitrator Tel: 604 263 5766 Cell: 604 374 7916 Fax: 604 261 1868 Email: [email protected] Trevor Mangion 1291 West 40th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6M 1V3 Canada We also gratefully acknowledgewww.knoxlex.com the generosity of our many donors and volunteers. Jan Gates and Knox & Co. denotes D.A.Knox Law Corporation event photographerThe Chan Centre Box Of fice Staf f : . Murray Paterson Special thanksTHANK to Prism Printing YOU!and Digital Centre for donating the Marketing Group printing of the colour covers for this Christmas concert programme. marketing & media relations Trevor Mangion You can be in good company too! and The corporate sponsors of Early Music Vancouver give back to their community through The Chan Centre Box Office Staff the support of our performances and education & outreach programmes. Their efforts emv ticket office: 604.822.2697 make a meaningful difference for concertgoers and musicians alike. Our wide range of activities offers unique sponsorship opportunities for both large and 1254 West 7th Avenue, small companies to support us while also reaching their corporate goals. A range of Vancouver BC, V6H 1B6 sponsorship advantages is available, including logo recognition, complimentary tickets for tel: 604.732.1610 your clients, employee discounts, and many other benefits tailored to your specific needs. fax: 604.732.1602 Call Jocelyn Peirce to discuss how our audience [email protected] profile may fit with your company’s objectives: earlymusic.bc.ca 604 732 1610. 4 | EMV Masterworks Series 2018/19 Festive Cantatas: A Monteverdi Christmas Vespers [email protected] christmas vespers in 17th-century venice On Christmas Eve, Vespers is celebrated with the sweetest sounds of voices and instruments by the salaried musicians of the church and by others hired specially to make a greater number, since on that evening they sing in eight, ten, twelve and sixteen choirs to the wonder and amazement of everyone, and especially of foreign visitors, who declare that they have never heard music as rare, or as remarkable in other parts of the world. This wonderful description of Christmas vespers in 17th- century Venice comes from Francesco Sansovino’s Venetia, città nobilis et singolare, descritta in XIIII libri (“Venice, Singular and Noble City, described in 14 volumes”). Sansovino was an Italian editor, translator and publisher, and his encyclopedic portrait of his adopted city, published in the second half of the 17th century, is a useful source for descriptions of churches, works of art, personalities, famous events, and customs of the time. Claudio Monteverdi had come to work in Venice in 1612, after over twenty years of service for the Gonzaga family in Mantua, where he had been employed as a court musician (not, as Claudio Monteverdi is sometimes assumed, as a church musician). In fact, his famous 1610 publication of sacred music, which includes the psalm settings suitable for vespers services, and motets that beloved Vespers of 1610, was most likely assembled to display could be used on many occasions. Interestingly, very few Monteverdi’s skill as a church composer at a time when, of the unusual items from the liturgy of San Marco were towards the end of his tenure with the Gonzagas, he became included. Monteverdi seems to have intended his publication increasingly dissatisfied with his treatment and opportunities for as many churches as possible, and was careful not to make at the Mantuan court, and he began to seek a position with the collection specific to his place of employment. It is from a leading ecclesiastical establishment elsewhere. He made this collection that most of the music on tonight’s programme tentative enquiries in Rome, but when, in 1612, the position is taken; we have constructed an order which follows the of maestro di capella at San Marco in Venice came available, Tridentine rite for the First Vespers of Christmas, celebrated Monteverdi applied. In the report signaling his appointment on Christmas Eve. to the position, the procurators of St. Mark’s commended him as “a most outstanding individual” and stated that they Vespers is one of the eight daily services that together form “are further confirmed in this opinion of his quality and virtue the Divine Office, celebrated (in some churches and monastic both by his works which are found in print and by those which orders since the sixth century) around the clock at intervals today Their Most Illustrious Lordships have sought to hear”. of roughly every three hours. As early as the Middle Ages, the vespers service assumed special significance among the In Monteverdi’s time, San Marco was not the cathedral Office hours, and it has long been a favourite for musical of Venice, but rather the chapel of the doge, the ruler of elaboration. The