19-12-22 CHAN Festive Cantatas Gabrieli

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2  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] the artists programme

Bruce Dickey hodie christus natus est director & cornetto Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice, ca. 1615

See page 5 for a listing All works composed by Giovanni Gabrieli and published in Venice in 1615 of the participating musicians unless otherwise indicated.

Canzon 5 duodecimi toni a 8 (1597)

Hodie Christus natus est a 7 (Giovanni Bassano) Quem vidistis pastores a 8 (Andrea Gabrieli)

Canzon V a 7

Hodie nobis de caelo a 2 (Alessandro Grandi) generously supported by O Jesu mi dulcissime a 8 The Drance Family in honour of José Verstappen and Betty Drance, Dr. Katherine E. Paton, Canzon 8 duodecimi toni a 10 (1597) and an Anonymous Donor

Hodie Christus natus est a 8 In association with Gloria in altissimus Deo a 7 (Gio. Battista Fergusio)

Chan Endowment Fund at the University of British Columbia interval

Canzon 9 duodecimi toni a 10 (1597)

Special thanks to Hodie Christus natus est a 10 (1597) Prism Printing and Digital Centre for contributing the printing of the full- Angelus ad pastores a 8 (Bassano) colour covers for tonight’s Christmas concert programme. Natività di Christo, per canto solo da cantarsi nel Chitarone (Biagio Marini) Pre-concert chat with host Matthew White at 6:45: Jesu dulcissime a 6 (Ms. Kassel) Bruce Dickey Salvator noster a 15

Canzon VI a 7 THE UNAUTHORISED USE OF ANY VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDING DEVICE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED In ecclesiis a 14 earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  3 partners Early Music Vancouver gratefully acknowledges the assistance and support of: GOVERNMENT SUPPORT board of directors Chris Guzy president We acknowledge the support of the Province of British Columbia Fran Watters vice president Ron Kruschen treasurer FOUNDATIONS Tony Knox past president THE BRENNAN SPANO Ilia Korkh FAMILY FOUNDATION secretary THE DRANCE FAMILY Spencer Corrigal cpa,ca EARLY MUSIC VANCOUVER FUND Sherrill Grace 2019-20 PRODUCTION PARTNERS Melody Mason

Tim Rendell cpa,ca EMV’s performances at the Chan Centre are presented in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Johanna Shapira Performing Arts, with the support of the Chan Endowment Fund at the University of British Columbia. Ingrid Söchting pacific baroque Vincent Tan orchestra alexander weimann ÷ MUSIC director José Verstappen cm artistic director emeritus ÷ staff Matthew White executive & artistic director Nathan Lorch business manager Michelle Herrewynen PRODUCTION PARTNERS IN VICTORIA BC development manager Jonathan Evans production manager Laina Tanahara CORPORATE SUPPORT marketing & volunteer coordinator Jan Gates Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel event photographer VANCOUVER, BC Tony Knox Barrister & Solicitor, Arbitrator

Tel: 604 263 5766 Cell: 604 374 7916 Fax: 604 261 1868 Email: [email protected]

Murray Paterson 1291 West 40th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6M 1V3 Canada www.knoxlex.com Marketing Group We also gratefullyKnox & Co. denotes D.A.Knox Lawacknowledge Corporation the generosity of our many donors and volunteers. marketing & media relations Trevor Mangion thank you! and The Chan Centre Box Office Staff emv ticket office: 604.822.2697 You can be in good company too! The corporate sponsors of Early Music Vancouver give back to their community through the support of our performances and education & outreach programmes. Their efforts 1254 West 7th Avenue, make a meaningful difference for concertgoers and musicians alike. Vancouver BC, V6H 1B6 tel: 604.732.1610 Our wide range of activities offers unique sponsorship opportunities for both large and fax: 604.732.1602 small companies to support us while also reaching their corporate goals. A range of sponsorship advantages is available, including logo recognition, complimentary tickets for [email protected] your clients, employee discounts, and many other benefits tailored to your specific needs. earlymusic.bc.ca Call Michelle Herrewynen to discuss how our audience profile may fit with your company’s objectives: 604 732 1610.

4  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] the artists

Bruce Dickey Bruce Dickey director and cornetto director & cornetto Bruce Dickey is one of a handful of musicians 0 worldwide who have dedicated themselves to Arwen Myers reviving the cornetto – once an instrument of great soprano virtuosi, but which lamentably fell into disuse in the Danielle Sampson 19th century. The revival began in the 1950s, but it soprano was largely Bruce Dickey, who, from the late 1970s, Vicki St. Pierre created a new renaissance of the instrument, alto allowing the agility and expressive power of the cornetto to be heard once again. Nicholas Burns alto His many students, over more than 30 years of Ross Hauck teaching at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, have tenor helped to consolidate and elevate the status of this once forgotten instrument. For his achievements Colin Balzer the Historic Brass Society awarded him in 2000 tenor the prestigious Christopher Monk Award for Sumner Thompson “his monumental work in cornetto performance, baritone historical performance practice and musicological scholarship.” In 2007 he was honoured Martin Auclair by British conductor and musicologist Andrew Parrott with a “Taverner Award” as one of 14 bass musicians whose “significant contributions to musical understanding have been motivated 0 by neither commerce nor ego.” Bruce Dickey In the course of his long career as a performer and recording artist he has worked with most of cornetto the leading figures in the field of early music, including the legendary pioneers of historically Matthew Jennejohn informed performance, Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He was cornetto a member for over ten years of Jordi Savall’s Hespèrion XX , and has frequently and repeatedly Etienne Asselin collaborated with Ton Koopman, Monica Huggett, Philippe Herreweghe and many others. Of cornetto special importance has been his long-time friendship and collaboration with Andrew Parrott, and in more recent years with Konrad Junghänel. Tekla Cunningham violin Bruce Dickey can be heard on countless recordings. His solo CD (“Quel lascivissimo Marc Destrubé cornetto…”) on Accent with the ensemble Tragicomedia was awarded the Diapason d’or. His violin second solo CD, entitled “La Bella Minuta”, has just been released on the Passacaille label. Sample tracks can be heard, and the CD purchased, on the website of the record label at Catherine Motuz passacaille.be. alto sackbut In addition to performing, Bruce Dickey is much in demand as a teacher, both of the cornetto Maximilien Brisson tenor sackbut and of seventeenth-century performance practice. In addition to his regular class at the Schola Cantorum he has taught at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Accademia Chigiana Jeremy Berkman in Siena, and the Early Music Institute at Indiana University, as well as master classes in tenor sackbut the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. He is also active in research on performance Linda Pears practice, and has published, together with Michael Collver, a catalogue of the surviving bass sackbut cornetto repertoire, and, together with trumpeter Edward Tarr, a book on historical wind Christina Hutten articulation. In 1997, together with his wife Candace Smith, he founded Artemisia Editions, a organ small publishing house which produces editions of music from 17th-century Italian convents. Natalie Mackie In 1981, Bruce Dickey moved to Italy, partly to be closer to the origins and source materials violone for his instrument and its music. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in a country John Lenti house, surrounded by vineyards, outside of Bologna, home of the original Concerto Palatino. lute brucedickey.com earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  5 Arwen Myers Danielle Sampson Vicki St. Pierre Nicholas Burns

Arwen Myers soprano piece “Concepción Picciotto” for the Earshot Jazz Festival. She performed in Boston Early Music Festival’s Monteverdi Trilogy A versatile artist known for her flexibility and mastery of a wide in 2015 as Melanto in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and as Virtù range of vocal colours & styles, Arwen Myers has performed and Pallade in l’incoronazione di Poppea. Her upcoming season major works with Portland Baroque Orchestra, Early Music includes the Messaggera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Baroque Vancouver, Pacific MusicWorks, and Indianapolis Symphony Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Handel’s Samson with Pacific Orchestra, among many others, and has sung under such MusicWorks, a concert of Hildegard von Bingen, and Brahms’ notable conductors as Nicholas McGegan, Monica Huggett, Requiem with Sonoma Bach. David Fallis, John Butt, David Hill, Scott Allen Jarrett & Matthew Dirst. Recent & upcoming highlights include Handel with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Oregon Bach Festival; Bach Vicki St. Pierre alto & Purcell with Portland Baroque Orchestra; Vivaldi, Monteverdi & Gabrieli with Early Music Vancouver; Fauré with Indianapolis Past concert highlights include Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 Symphony Orchestra; world premieres by Robert Kyr, Zachary with the Toronto Consort, Zelenka’s St. Cecilia Mass with Wadsworth, J.J. Wright & Michel Petrossian; and Handel Tafelmusik, Stanford’s Requiem with the Orpheus Choir, Bach’s Semele (title role) with American Bach Soloists Academy. An Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio with the Toronto Bach enthusiastic collaborator, she has been featured with some of Consort, and Handel’s Messiah with Symphony Nova Scotia, the the nation’s premiere chamber ensembles, including Seraphic Edmonton Symphony, and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Fire, Bach Akademie Charlotte, and Cappella Romana, among Tafelmusik, Victoria Symphony, Handel’s Dixit Dominus with others, and she is a core member of Fear No Music – the only Tafelmusik, and the music of Jommelli with Les idées heureuses singer in the acclaimed Portland-based new music ensemble. A of Montreal. native of Augusta, GA, Arwen holds degrees from the Indiana On the operatic stage, Vicki has appeared in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, University Jacobs School of Music, and she currently serves as Charpentier’s Actéon, and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria Director of Communications & Marketing at Trinity Episcopal with Opera Atelier, Dido and Aeneas with Ensemble Masques Cathedral and Executive & co-Artistic Director of Northwest de Montreal and Toronto Masque Theatre, Rossini’s Il Barbiere Art Song in Portland, OR. Arwen belongs to Beyond Artists, a di Siviglia with Toronto Philharmonia, and L’Incoronazione di coalition of artists that donates a percentage of their concert fee Poppea with Opera Atelier, Cleveland Opera and Early Music to organizations they care about, and is an individual member Vancouver. of 1% of the Planet. She is an active freelance artist across the Recent and upcoming engagements include the role Nutrice United States & beyond. Learn more at arwenmyerssoprano. in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with the Academy com. of Ancient Music in London, UK, the role of the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Les Violons du Roy at Carnegie Danielle Sampson soprano Hall, Messiah with Orchestra London, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with Symphony New Brunswick, and A Spanish Christmas with The Danielle Sampson is delighted to return to Vancouver after Toronto Consort. having sung in the Festive Cantatas: A Monteverdi Christmas Vespers concerts last December. She has performed with Vicki is a professor of voice at Mount Allison University, Boston Early Music Festival, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, adjudicates music festivals and competitions, was Director of Seattle Opera, American Bach Soloists, California Bach Society, Music at the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto, taught Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, SF SoundBox, and voice at Wilfrid Laurier University, conducts an auditioned Alabama Symphony among others. Recently she was seen in community choir in Fredericton, NB, was the music director for Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabeus with Portland Chamber the New Hamburg Live! festival of the arts, was a lecturer at the Orchestra, a concert of baroque women composers with Pacific Royal Conservatory of Music, has been an assistant conductor MusicWorks, and local composer Neil Welch’s ensemble with Opera Atelier, and, is on faculty at COSI, a summer opera

6  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] Ross Hauck Colin Balzer Sumner Thompson Martin Auclair training programme in Sulmona, Italy. She completed her doctoral has performed roles such as Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda, studies in performance at the University of Toronto under the Polinesso in Handel’s Ariodante, and Lichas in Handel’s Hercules. tutelage of Dr. Darryl Edwards. No stranger to singing major choral works one per part, Nicholas has performed numerous Bach cantatas one per part with both Les idées heureuses and le Bande Baroque Montréal Nicholas Burns alto including the solo cantata Gott soll allein mein Herze haben Vancouver-born countertenor Nicholas Burns has been (BWV 169) and Bach’s fugal masterpiece Ein feste Burg (BWV described as possessing a “thrilling voice”, and past 80). Later this season Nicholas will perform Bach’s St. Matthew performances have been called a “revelation” (Opera Canada). Passion one voice per part with the American Bach Soloists in Recent appearances include performances of Monteverdi’s 1610 San Francisco as well as the music of Henry Purcell with Arion Vespers with the American Bach Soloists, music by Henry Purcell Baroque Orchestra. Nicholas appears regularly with le Studio at le Festival international de musique baroque de Lamèque, de musique ancienne, with whom he has recorded an album Handel’s Messiah with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra of music by Lassus on ATMA Classique. Aside from singing, and Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, and B Minor Nicholas is an accomplished bagpiper winning the World Pipe Mass with Ensemble Caprice. On the opera stage Nicholas Band Championships in Glasgow in 2012.

Legacy Giving at EMV Legacy gifts support the continued health and vibrancy of EMV and further our mandate which is “to sponsor musical performances and educational opportunities informed by an in-depth knowledge of original performing conditions, period- specific instruments and broad historical context.” For more information, or if you have already named EMV in your will and would like to let us know, please contact our Resource Development Manager, Michelle Herrewynen: 604-732-1610 or [email protected] .

EMV Thanks Barbara Kozier

In 2018, EMV received a very generous gift from the estate of Barbara (Blackwood) Kozier. Professor Kozier was the lead author of an extensive series of nursing fundamentals texts that are still used in the Canadian and international training of nurses. She graduated from UBC with a B.A. in 1953 and earned her M.Sc. from the University of Washington in 1955. Over her distinguished career, she held positions in Bella Bella, BC and with the Victorian Order of Nurses, before teaching pediatric, psychiatric, and community nursing at VGH and the BC Institute of Technology. The Fundamentals of Patient Care is now in its 10th edition and is colloquially called the “Kozier” book. Professor Kozier loved Baroque music, especially the performances of the PBO. It is with the greatest pleasure, therefore, that we thank Barbara for her magnificent bequest in support of EMV’s Pacific Baroque Orchestra and recognize her passion for music. Barbara Kozier is an inspiration.

EMV thanks Dr. Sally Thorne, UBC Professor of Nursing and Associate Dean of Applied Science, for her assistance with Barbara Kozier’s biography. earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  7 Ross Hauck tenor Philadelphia Chamber Music series; concerts with the Portland, New Jersey, Utah, Victoria, Ann Arbor, Québec, Atlanta, and Tenor Ross Hauck is a specialist in sacred oratorio work, but is Indianapolis Symphonies; Early Music Vancouver; Tafelmusik well-known for his versatility. His work in early music is often and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Les Violons du Roy; the with Apollo’s Fire and Pacific MusicWorks. Recent concert National and Calgary Philharmonics; Ottawa’s National Arts credits include the symphonies of Baltimore, Phoenix, Dallas, Centre Orchestra; Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society of New Chicago, Grand Rapids, Kansas City, Portland, and the National York at New York’s Carnegie Hall. In addition, he is regularly Symphony. This season includes Carmina Burana with both the featured in opera productions at the Boston Early Music Festival. Seattle Symphony and the Hawaii Symphony, Messiah in both Cleveland and Seattle, Celtic Journey with the symphonies Guest soloist appearances abroad include work with Collegium of Omaha and Edmonton (CA), and a UK tour of “Sugarloaf” Vocale Gent led by Philippe Herreweghe, Fundacao OSESP mountain with Apollo’s Fire. Opera credits include lead roles with Orchestra and Louis Langrée, Les Musiciens du Louvre under companies in Tacoma, Sacramento, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati, Marc Minkowski, Rotterdam Philharmonic led by Yannick among others. Nézet-Séguin, Akademie für alte Musik under Marcus Creed, and the RIAS Kammerchor, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Radio An active recitalist, he has been heard live on PBS. Mr. Hauck is Kamer Filharmonie, Estonian Chamber Choir, and Musik Podium a distinguished alum of the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Stuttgart. Operatic forays include the role of Don Ottavio in Music, with further training at Tanglewood, Ravinia, Aspen and Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Bolshoi and in Aix-en-Provence and 2 seasons at the prestigious Filene Center at Wolf Trap. He is a Mozart’s La finta giardiniera in Aix and Luxembourg. former cellist, a professor of voice at Seattle University, and the music director at his home church in Washington state, where he Particularly esteemed as a recitalist, he has been welcomed at lives with his wife and 4 children. London’s Wigmore Hall, the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, and at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Recordings to Colin Balzer tenor date include Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch and Eisler and Henze Canadian lyric tenor Colin Balzer’s North American engagements song anthologies. Mr. Balzer holds the rare distinction of earning include recitals at New York’s Frick Collection and on the the Gold Medal at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau

8  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] with the highest score in 25 years. Born in British Columbia, he received his formal musical training at the University of British Columbia with David Meek and with Edith Wiens at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, Augsburg.

Sumner Thompson, baritone Described as possessing “power and passion”, and “stylish elegance”, Sumner Thompson is in high demand on the concert and opera stage across North America and Europe. He has appeared as a soloist with many leading ensembles and orchestras including the Britten-Pears Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Les Voix Baroques, The Handel and Haydn Society, Tafelmusik, Arion Baroque Orchestra, Gli Angeli Genève, and the orchestras of Phoenix, Memphis, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Charlotte. Recent engagements include a repeat performance of Handel’s Messiah with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers with the critically acclaimed Green Mountain Project, Britten’s War Requiem with the Boston Philharmonic, Bach’s St. John Passion at the National Cathedral, and the title role in Britten’s Saint Nicolas with Philadelphia Choral Arts. On the operatic stage he performed the role of El Dancaïro Host an EMV Guest Musician in Carmen with the Cincinnati Opera, and the role of Siegmund in a Do you have a guest room that often sits empty? concert version of Act I of Wagner’s Die Walküre in Boston. Do you enjoy well-educated, articulate houseguests Mr. Thompson can be heard on the Boston Early Music Festival’s from across the country and the world? Grammy-nominated recording of Lully’s Psyché on the CPO label, with the Handel and Haydn Society on their recording Do you like Classical music? of Handel’s Messiah on the Coro label, and also with Les Voix Would you like to get the ‘inside scoop’ Baroques on “Canticum Canticorum”, “Carissimi Oratorios”, about performing from a professional musician? and “Humori”, all on the ATMA label. If your answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’, In addition to his musical pursuits, Mr. Thompson spends his time then I invite you to consider joining the growing number of restoring his 1885 Stick-style Victorian home, building various types of bass guitars, and entertaining his 4 year old daughter. EMV supporters who house visiting guest musicians. Get to know some of the wonderful musicians Martin Auclair bass that come to Vancouver to bring you great music. At age 9, Montreal bass Martin Auclair began his musical training Host only when it is convenient for you; with Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal. His passion for singing, all you need to provide is a private room. always increasing, le him to studies at the Conservatoire de musique du Quebec à Montreal and the Université de Montréal. For more information The rich and unique timbre of his voice has given him the chance please contact Jonathan Evans, Production Manager, to be hired as a soloist and chorister by several ensembles in the Early Music Vancouver: greater Montreal area. [email protected] He has been a soloist with the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal (SMAM), the Opéra de Montréal, the Orchestre or 604.732.1610, extension 2004 symphonique de Montréal, the Opéra de Québec, the Ottawa Bach Choir and Early Music Vancouver. He also participated Special thanks to the following for hosting our guest musicians: in several recordings as a soloist and backing vocalist with the Janice & J. Evan Kreider, Marlene LeGates & Al Dreher, SMAM and other Montreal ensembles. Marc White & Joey Schibild, Judy & Bern Storr, Kim & Stuart Smith, Olivia & Nicholas Swindale, Rosemary & Alex Water- house-Hayward, Valerie Weeks & Barry Honda, Penny Wil- liams, and Jane & Michael Woolnough. earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  9 programme notes

The importance of St. Mark’s Basilica lay not as much in its ecclesiastical authority (it was not, after all, the cathedral of Venice) as from the power of the state, and particularly the Doge, whose private chapel it was. The Venetians loved pomp and splendour in all things; indeed, laws were periodically passed limiting public displays of wealth. On feast days of particular political importance to the Serenessima, the Doge sat on an impressive throne in front of the main altar, his guests at his side and the Venetian nobility arranged nearby. All would have been superbly placed to hear the musicians and singers deployed in the choir lofts above and in an array of little balconies and structures. In this Christmas concert, we do not attempt to reconstruct any particular service or event, but rather to invite the listener to follow the Doge’s musical chapel to St. Mark’s and other Venetian churches, and experience the sumptuous sounds with which Venetians celebrated the holidays. Most of the music was written by three musicians closely tied to the basilica: Giovanni Bassano, Andrea Gabrieli and, above-all, Andrea’s masterful nephew, Giovanni Gabrieli. The motets heard here include polychoral settings – and in some cases multiple settings – of some of the most familiar Latin Christmas texts: Hodie Christus natus est (Today Christ is born), Quem vidistis pastores (Whom do you see, Shepherds), and Angelus ad pastores (The angel said to the shepherds). Giovanni Gabrieli We have used the first of these, based on a familiar Gregorian Giovanni, on the other hand, virtually embodies the polychoral chant sung at Christmastime, as a kind of refrain in three concerto, since all of his sacred works are in this genre. From different settings, one by Giovanni Bassano and two by the time of his successful audition in 1585 at the basilica until Giovanni Gabrieli. The first of Gabrieli’s is a contrafactum with his death in 1612, Gabrieli held the position of first organist, a sacred text on his madrigal, “O che felice giorno”. a post which he inherited from his uncle. In his hands the Giovanni Bassano was a skilled composer in many genres, Venetian concerto took on new brilliance through the extension including grand polychoral sacred music. He was also a of vocal and instrumental ranges, the use of affective, hyper- virtuoso of the cornetto, serving as director of the instrumental expressive harmonies, and the ample use of instrumental band at St. Mark’s for many years, until his death in 1617. He obbligati with elaborate written-out ornamentation. Even in would have been one of the cornettists for whom Gabrieli motets without obbligati, however, the range of certain parts wrote his wonderful instrumental canzonas and sonatas. implies the use of instruments, and some pieces which are Perhaps the figurations in some of these canzonas were fully texted in all voices nonetheless carry the indication voce inspired by Bassano’s playing and by his book on improvising on only a few parts (usually one per choir). A clear example ornamentation. is Salvator noster à 15 heard here, a large-scale ceremonial work in which the forces were often more instrumental than In 1557 Andrea Gabrieli unsuccessfully auditioned for the vocal. In this practice the text must be “spoken” as much by position of organist at St. Mark’s, being passed over in favour the instruments as by the voices: the entire ensemble strives of Claudio Merulo. We should probably be thankful for his toward a blend in which the individual strands of polyphony or failure, because during the years prior to his appointment to the “choral” declamation cannot always be identified as vocal a permanent position at St. Mark’s, Andrea would collaborate or instrumental. with Orlando di Lasso in the retinue of Albrecht V of Bavaria. Here he was exposed to a cosmopolitan musical culture and After the death of his uncle, Giovanni was the principal the grand ceremonial style of Lasso, which he would later adapt composer of ceremonial music at St. Mark’s. He was so successfully to Venetian circumstances. When Andrea therefore responsible for finding and hiring extra singers joined the chapel at St. Mark’s in 1566, the polychoral concerto and instrumentalists for major feast days. The players at his style, pioneered by Willaert a decade earlier, had not yet taken disposal, especially the cornettists and trombonists, were hold. Only Andrea was working consistently in this style, and among the best to be found anywhere, and their virtuosity two years after his death in 1585, his nephew Giovanni finally is clearly reflected in the music he wrote for them. While published his uncle’s monumental polychoral works. Gabrieli’s sacred concerted music was more influential in

10  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] the long run, it is the instrumental music composed for these died in Sardinia, but he published an interesting collection of players which probably reached the highest artistic level and Motetti e dialoghi per concertar in Venice in 1612. His motet so has the greatest power to touch modern audiences. bursts with Venetian ideas that we can easily imagine him This is an astonishing achievement in a period when virtually travelling to the lagoon city to oversee his publication. In this all the most “serious” music was written for singers. Gabrieli dialogue, the angels and shepherds are represented by groups was the first composer to elevate the genres of canzona of 3 and 4 voices. The angelic group sings with elaborate and sonata to an artistic level equal to the best vocal music (celestial?) ornamentation, while the shepherds declame of the age. While full of virtuosic special effects, the truly their story in a more prosaic manner. revolutionary element of his instrumental music is not the A perhaps even more curious work is the strophic Italian specific devices he employed, but the astonishing quality that solo song by the Venetian violinist Biagio Marini, Natività di it consistently attains. Christo, sung to the theorbo with a ritornello for violin. The All of the ensemble canzonas heard on this concert come text presents an unusual metaphor, describing the baby Jesus from Gabrieli’s two principal printed collections, the Sacrae as a chaste Cupid. Though without bow, arrows, and wings, symphoniae (1597) and the posthumous Canzoni e sonate the former is far more powerful than the latter, since just a (1615). No composer ever surpassed Giovanni Gabrieli in this glance from his eyes can launch a thousand arrows. And if genre. His canzonas remain unique instrumental monuments Venus is the mother of Cupid, the parents of Jesus are two to a genius of the High Renaissance, created at a time when chaste lovers. The poem is at the limits of blasphemy, but it is the currents of fashion were pulling in a different direction brought off with a taste that is deliciously Baroque. altogether. If we have succeeded in this concert in mingling your Two other works on our program warrant special mention. Christmas imagery with the splendours of St. Mark’s mosaic- The connection of Giovanni Battista Fergusio to Venice is covered vaults, we will feel contented. admittedly tenuous. Indeed, Fergusio was Piemontese and – Bruce Dickey, Sala Bolognese

Thank you for 50 years of inspiring performances! The generous support of donors like you continues to help historically informed performance practices excel. DONATE TODAY Our annual fall fundraising campaign is well underway and this year, as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we ask you to consider contributing $50 towards our 50th season. Fifty years ago, in the Spring of 1970, the Vancouver Society for Early Music was created to support a controversial and innovative approach to music making that changed the way we listen to classical music forever. Founded as one of a handful of concert societies in North America dedicated to using period instruments and historically informed performance practices, EMV has since grown into one of the most vibrant and nimble musical organizations in Western Canada. During intermission and following today’s performance, EMV volunteers will be ready to accept cash and cheque donations (to Early Music Vancouver) at each theatre entrance. You can also visit our donation table in the lobby to make a contribution with your Visa or Mastercard. You can also donate online anytime at www.earlymusic.bc.ca/donate. Thank you for your support! For further information about supporting EMV, contact Michelle Herrewynen, Resource Development Manager: [email protected] | 604-732-1610 Full Legal name: Vancouver Society for Early Music. Charitable Number: 10816 7776 RR0001 earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  11 texts and translations

Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon 5 duodecimi toni a 8

Giovanni Bassano: Hodie Christus natus est a 7

Hodie Christus natus est: Today Christ is born: Hodie Salvator apparuit: Today the Saviour appeared: Hodie in terra canunt Angeli, Today on Earth the Angels sing, laetantur Archangeli Archangels rejoice: Hodie exsultant justi, dicentes: Today the righteous rejoice, saying: Gloria in excelsis Deo. Glory to God in the highest. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Andrea Gabrieli: Quem vidistis pastores a 8

Quem vidistis pastores dicite, Whom did you see, shepherds, annuntiate nobis in terris quis apparuit? tell us who has appeared? Natum vidimus et choros angelorum We saw the child newborn collaudantes Dominum. Alleluia. and choirs of angels praising the Lord. Alleluia. Dicite quidnam vidistis? Pray say, what did you see? et annuntiate Christi nativitatem. And tell us of Christ’s nativity. Natum vidimus et choros angelorum We saw the child newborn collaudantes Dominum, Alleluia. and choirs of angels praising the Lord. Alleluia.

Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon V a 7

Alessandro Grandi: Hodie nobis de caelo a 2

Hodie nobis de coelo Today for us true peace pax vera descendit: from heaven came down: Hodie per totum mundum Today throughout the whole world melliflui facti sunt coeli. the heavens distilled honey. Hodie illuxit nobis dies Today there shone for us redemptionis novae, a day of new redemption, reparationis antiquae, of long-expected restoration, felicitatis aeternae. Alleluia. of eternal happiness. Alleluia.

12  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] Giovanni Gabrieli: O Jesu mi dulcissime a 8

O Jesu mi dulcissime, Oh Jesus, my sweetest, adoro te in stabulo commorantem. I worship you, living in the stable. O puer dilectissime, Oh most beloved child, adoro te in praesepio jacentem. I worship you, lying in the manger. O Christe, rex piissime, Oh Christ, holiest of kings, adoremus te in faeno cubantem, we worship you, sleeping in the hay, in coelo fulgentem. shining in the heavens. O mira Dei pietas, Oh, marvellous holiness of God, O singularis caritas, most unique kindness, Christus datus est, the Christ is given, Jesus natus est, Jesus is born, datus est a Patre, given by the father, natus est de virgine matre. born of a virgin mother. O divina ergo proles, Oh, progeny thus divine, te colimus hic homines we venerate you here as mortals, ut veneremur caelites. that we may revere you as immortals.

Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon 8 duodecimi toni a 10

Giovanni Gabrieli: Hodie Christus natus est a 8

(Gio. Battista Fergusio: Gloria in altissimus Deo a 7

Gloria in altissimis Deo. Glory to God in the highest. Quem vidistis Pastores dicite, Whom did you see, Shepherds, tell us? Natum vidimus, et choros Angelorum, We saw the child and choirs of angels collaudantes Dominum canentes, praising the Lord, singing, Gloria in altissimis Deo, Glory to God in the highest, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. And on earth peace to all men of goodwill. Christus natus est nobis To us a child is born, venite, adoremus. Come let us adore him.

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Giovanni Gabrieli: Hodie Christus natus est a 10

Bassano: Angelus ad pastores a 8

Angelus ad pastores ait: The angel said to the shepherds: annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, ‘I bring you tidings of great joy, quia natus est vobis for the Saviour of the world hodie Salvator mundi. has been born to you today.’ Alleluia. Alleluia. Parvulus filius hodie natus est nobis, A tiny son is born to us today, et vocabitur Deus fortis. and he shall be called Mighty God. Alleluia. Alleluia.

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earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  15 Biagio Marini: Natività di Christo, per canto solo da cantarsi nel Chitarone

Con le Stelle in Ciel che mai Who has ever seen the sun Vidi il Sol spiegar i rai, extending its rays in the starry sky? Chi trà gelo Or in the frozen ground Nel suo stelo a lovely rose Amorosa standing upright star la rosa, on its stem? Trà tempeste, e trà procelle Or through storms and tempests Lampeggiar amiche Stelle. the friendly stars twinkling? Casti Amanti ecco senz’ ali, Chaste lovers, here is Cupid, Ecco Amor senz’arco, e strali, without wings, bow or arrows, Che nel seno lying Di vil fieno in the lowly hay, Freddo giace, cold Senza face: and without light Ma se scalda il core algente, but if he warms the frozen heart, E’ che poi farebbe ardente. . he will then make it burn. S’apre poi le labra al riso, If he then opens his lips to laugh, Rose dà di Paradiso, he brings forth the roses of Paradise; S’altri puote Nor can others Ne le gotte gaze upon his cheeks Vagheggiarle, without loving them? Senz’amarle, Come, take up the bow and quiver, Sù, sù prendi arco, e faretra, chaste Cupid, Casto Amore, e’l cor mi spetra. and soften my heart. Hor’ al mondo il grand’ Augusto, Now on earth may the great Augustus Signoreggi io nel angusto, Reign; I in a narrow cave Aero speco Will live Vivrò teco with you Dove inviti where you invite me co’i vegiti, with your whimpering, Che s’è culla al tuo natale, for if your birth is in a cradle, A me sia tomba vitale. may it be for me my living tomb.

Ms. Kassel: Jesu dulcissime a 6

Jesu dulcissime, Sweet Jesus, salva fugientes ad te, save us who flee to you, Christe longaminis, Long-suffering Christ, exaudi nos deprecantes, hear our prayers, O Jesu dulcissime, O sweet Jesus, paternæ gloriæ splendor, glory and splendour of the Father, noli nos condemnare, Do not condemn us, sed libera nos, but deliver us et defende nos ab hostium insidiis, From the attacks of our enemies, et dona nobis vitam æternam. And give us eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia.

16  Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020 Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice [email protected] Giovanni Gabrieli: Salvator noster a 15

Salvator noster, Today our Saviour hodie dilectissimi natus est. is most wondrously born. Gaudeamus omnes Let us all rejoice, exultet igitur sanctus. may the holy one delight exceedingly Qui appropinquat ad palmam. who draws near the reward of victory. Gaudeat peccator, Let the sinner rejoice, quia invitatur ad veniam because he is invited to forgiveness; animetur gentilis, let the gentile be given life, quia invitatur ad vitam: for he is invited to live: Alleluia. Alleluia.

Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon VI a 7

Giovanni Gabrieli: In ecclesis a 4

In ecclesiis benedicite Domino. In the churches bless the Lord. Alleluia. Alleluia. In omni loco Dominationis In all the high places benedic anima mea, Dominum. bless the Lord, my soul. Alleluia. Alleluia. In Deo salutari meo et Gloria mea. In God is my salvation and my glory. Dominus auxilium meum God is my help et spes mea in Deo est. and my hope is in God. Alleluia. Alleluia. Deus noster, te invocamus, te adoramus, Our God, we call upon you. Libera nos, vivifica nos, Free us, save us, give us life. Alleluia. Alleluia. Deus, adiutor noster in aeternum. God is our help for ever more. Alleluia. Alleluia.

THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS! EMV’s activities are made possible through the generous assistance of many volunteers who offer their time. We would like to thank the following:

Pam Atnikov, Leslie Bauming, Richard Cameron, Alexandra Charlton, Catherine Crouch, Bill Dovhey, Sandy Dowling, Susan Ed- wards, Helen Elfert, Beverly Ferguson, Elizabeth Ferguson, Nel Finberg, Jean-Pierre Fougères, Gail Franko, Stanley Green- spoon, Satoko Hashigasako, Delma Hemming, Margaret Hendren, Murray Hendren, Michiko Higgins, Maggie Holland, Gene Homel, Richard Huber, Gigi Huxley, Nancy Illman, Gretchen Ingram, Ron Jobe, Gerald Joe, Susan Kaufman, Martin Know- les, Barb Knox, Susan Larkin, Pat Lim, Cindy Ma, Christina MacLeod, Wanda Madokoro, Kathryn McMullen, Vania Mello, Rob- ert Middleton-Hope, Carole Nakonechny, Tom Nesbit, Sharon Newman, Veronika Ong, Gina Page, Betty Lou Phillips, Jes- sica Pereversoff, Melanie Ross, Selma Savage, Joey Schibild, Traudi Schneider, Jill Schroder, Eleanor Third, Sharron Wilson. Interested in joining our volunteer corps? Phone 604.732.1610 for details. earlymusic.bc.ca Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice Early Music Vancouver 2019 | 2020  17 FEB 29 We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. MAR 8 Dianne Reeves: Beleza Brazil APR 4 La Santa Cecilia APR 18 Kalabanté: Afrique en Cirque

WE SHALL OVERCOME FEATURING DAMIEN SNEED

DIANNE REEVES: LA SANTA CECILIA BELEZA BRAZIL

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