GRANDS CONCERTS: CAPELLA SANCTAE CRUCIS / REQUIEM DE COIMBRA
The programme of the Capella Sanctae Crucis concert centres around Requiem de Coimbra – an anonymous and previously unpublished four-voice mass for the dead, most likely performed at the Santa Cruz monastery in Portugal’s Coimbra in the first half of the 16th century. This polyphonic arrangement, called contraponto concertado in Lusitanian sources, was born of improvisation: the tenor voice exposes the chorale melody (cantus planus) in long and isorhythmic notes, while the other three voices develop a florid yet imitative counterpoint. This composition provides the work with excellent stability and balance, fluidity and constant movement.
The Mass will be accompanied by other works that provide the musical setting for the liturgy for the dead in Coimbra: Circumdederunt me – a motet by Bartolomeo Trosillo, In memoria – a gradual in an unusual version for three high voices signed by Bernal, Regem cui – the invocation (invitatorium) by António Milheiro that opens the service of the morrow for the dead, a work important and musically valuable in the Iberian world, and the litany Jesu redemptor, which will be presented as processional music.
The desire and adoration for the radiance of eternal light that dries the tears of pain and dampens the sorrow of loss constantly recurs in the texts. The artists added the sound of wind instruments to the eloquence of the text conveyed by the singers. As evidenced by numerous written accounts, a variety of instruments, mainly winds, accompanied and supported the voices of singers during the most solemn ceremonies, such as services for the dead in the 16th-century chapels and cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, flutes, dulcians and cornetts, shawms, trombones, crumhorns and bagpipes illustrate and enrich the colours of the presented repertoire. This is consistent with Iberian sources that refer to the practice of varying the instruments accompanying the voices to delight the listener.
A unique feature of this project is the work on the flexibility of human and instrumental voices: the artists want to achieve a quality of performance close to that of 16th-century virtuoso singers from Santa Cruz de Coimbra. The solemnity of the theme and the rich sound of voices and instruments puts the listener in a state of deep contemplation – between life and death, between the moment and eternity.
Performers:
Capella Sanctae Crucis
Tiago Simas Freire – artistic and scientific director
Programme:
REQUIEM DE COIMBRA
Ad processionem
Litaniae: André Moutinho (fl. after 1550) Jesu redemptor
Ad matutinum
Invitatorium: [António] Milheiro (fl. 1618) Regem cui / Venite exultemus
Ante-missam
Bartolomeo Trosillo (ca. 1500 – ca. 1567) / Tiago Simas Freire Circumdederunt me
Ad missam
Introitus: Requiem aeternam (anonymous, before 1550)
Kyrie eleison (anonymous)
Epistola: Agostinho da Cruz (ca. 1590–1633) Tento 6ºtom
Graduale: Requiem aeternam (anonymous)
[Afonso Perea] Bernal (d. 1593) / Tiago Simas Freire In memoria
Offertorium: Domine Jesu Christe (anonymous)
Diego de Alvarado (ca. 1570–1643) Tento 4ºtom
Sanctus (anonymous)
Agnus Dei (anonymous)
Communio: Lux aeterna (anonymous)
Resquiescant in pace (cantus planus)
Organizers
