Chant Wars
Carolingian 'globalization' of medieval liturgical chant
Lombards & Barbarians
Music, wars and liturgy at Monte Cassino and in southern Italy in the Middle Ages
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The theme of Chant Wars is nothing less than the first known 'globalization' of European music. Specifically, the men of Dialogos/Sequentia perform music which illuminates the legendary 9th-century confrontation between the Frankish cantors of the Carolingian emperors and the European chant traditions the emperor sought to replace with these 'new' musical repertoires and vocal styles. The merging of two separate men's vocal ensembles makes it possible for today's listeners to hear the astonishing diversity of chant styles of medieval Europe, at a time when chant traditions were competing for ascendancy in the vigorous young empire of Pepin, Charlemagne and their successors.
This imperial reform of the liturgy and its musical structures arrived in some regions of the vast Carolingian empire almost as a 'cultural revolution', finding in many places an established local liturgy and singing style with which it had to contend. Some local styles survived this confrontation but most were merged with, or gradually replaced by, the Carolingian chants, resulting in the formation of the complex, hybrid repertory which we today call 'Gregorian chant'. In this concert programme, the men of Sequentia and Dialogos will present carefully-researched yet radical new reconstructions of the chants sung during this confrontation, taken from the world of brilliant medieval cantors who were literally singing for their lives. A recording of the programme was released in May 2005 by Sony-BMG.
Voices: Benjamin Bagby, Olivier Delafosse, Olivier Germond, Katarina Livljanić, Vincent Pislar, Branislav Rakić, Jean-Paul Rigaud, Wolodymyr Smishkewych, Michael Loughlin Smith
Laudate dominum
(MP3, 1:50, 755 KB)
Gregorius praesul
(MP3, 1:40, 686 KB)
It is so rare that a concert of medieval plainchant is able to provide the audience with the same dramatic intensity as a theatrical performance. Nevertheless, the ensembles 'Dialogos' and 'Sequentia' succeeded in meeting this challenge with their new concert program 'Chant Wars'.
Le Monde de la Musique
Summer 2008
• June 3rd, Cité de la musique, Paris
Amphithéâtre, 8pm
Programme: Judith
Booking: 01 44 84 44 84
www.cite-musique.fr
• June 16th, Dvigrad Festival
Kanfanar, Croatia
Crkva sv. Silvestra, 9.30pm
Programme: Judith
• June 25th, Romanischer Sommer
Köln, Germany
St Pantaleon’s church, 9.30pm
Programme: Judith
www.romanischer-sommer.de
• August 13th, Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
Greyfriars Kirk, 5.45pm
Programme: Chant Wars
www.eif.co.uk
• August 19th, Festival de música antigua de Sajazarra, La Rioja, Spain
Iglesia de la Asunción, 8.30pm
Programme: Abbo Abbas
Booking: +34 941 320 346
• August 27th, Académie Bach, France
Varengeville sur mer’s church, 8.30pm
Programme: Judith
www.academie-bach.fr
August 28th-30th, 2008, Antwerp, Belgium
International Young Artists Presentation - Early Music
More information at www.musica.be