A Spanish Nativity

Events

Saturday, 21 December 2019 at 9:00 pm

AMUZ

AMUZ, Antwerp, 2000, Belgium

For its latest Christmas programme, Stile Antico turns to the sensuous musical world of Renaissance Spain, drawing together an irresistible mix of sumptuous polyphony and infectiously joyful folk dances. A superbly rich and luminous mass by Alonso Lobo, based on a motet by Guerrero and intended for performance at Toledo Cathedral, forms the programme’s centrepiece. Interspersed between its movements are an exuberant ‘ensalada’ by Mateo Flecha, inviting us to be present at the nativity through the use of traditional dance rhythms, beautiful Christmas miniatures by Tomás Luis de Victoria, and classic villancicos – Spain’s answer to the traditional carol. And just as in Spain the feast of the Epiphany forms the climax of the Christmas season, so this enthralling selection is capped by a magnificent motet by Morales retelling the story of Herod and the Three Kings.

Mateo Flecha el Viejo: Riu riu chiu
Francisco Guerrero: Beata Dei Genetrix
Pedro Rimonte: De la piel de sus ovejas
Alonso Lobo: ‘Kyrie’ from Missa Beata Dei Genetrix
Rimonte: Rey del cielo
Tomás Luis da Victoria: Ne timeas Maria
Guerrero: Nino Dios d’amor
Flecha: El Jubilate
Lobo: ‘Gloria’ from Missa Beata Dei Genetrix
Victoria: O Magnum mysterium
Lobo: ‘Credo’ from Missa Beata Dei Genetrix
Guerrero: A Un Niño llorando
Lobo: ‘Sanctus & Benedictus’ from Missa Beata Dei Genetrix
Rimonte: Luna que reluces
Lobo: ‘Agnus Dei’ from Missa Beata Dei Genetrix
Cristóbal de Morales: Cum natus esset