The ViolinConsort - a new ensemble spread out
After a period of big experiments in instrument-making in the Renaissance, the development of instrument-families for the string-instruments finally starts at the beginning of the 16th century. There is more and more clear division between the viola da gamba-family and the violin-family. The first indicates violin instruments of different sizes we find in iconographies from Ferarra from the year 1511 - starting from the circle around Isabella D'Este, who promoted these instruments as part of the humanistic culture at her court in Ferrara, the early violinband spreaded out rapidly throughout Europe.
The story of this former new instrument-family is a story of an enormous success until now - as the violinfamily became the basis for todays' orchestra-instrumentation. The contemporaries were enthusiastic about the technical possibilities (like articulation orperfect intonation) of this new and innovative instrument family. Besides the dance-repertoire, the violinband played not only common genres like madrigals and motets but also instrumental arrangements of popular pieces and instrumental-Canzones in public-processions or in churches. The special interest of the young ensemble RinascitaConsort trues for the repertoire of the early violinband apart from dancemusic - like these ones of "Suonadori di Violine" in Venice or other formations. We propose a program which shows a representative repertoire of this new ensemble-formation in different genres. The idea is to concentrate on extraordinary pieces in which composers e.g. exaggerate the ordinary to its limits, so that it feels very modern even in our days- like extraordinary harmonies in Madrigals of Schütz or Gesualdo, tricky changings of mensure in Canzonas by Frescobaldi or very complicated rhythms in Diminutions we could imagine even in free-Jazz ...
Madrigals & Motets
Diminutions
Canzoni & Sinfonias & Recercars
Musica Nova - Adrian Willaert (Venezia 1559)
Adrian Willaert was one of the last Franco-Flemish composers who worked in Italy. Probably born around 1490 in Bruges, Willaert was bandmaster of San Marco in Venice since 1527. His student Zarlino stated that Willaert gave the crucial impulse for the "Venetian School", which played an important role in the development of the instrumental music. Other of his students were da Rore, Vicento, Parobosco, A. Gabrieli and Porta.
At this time a group of republicans from Florence, who were mostly bankers, lived in exile in Venice. They cultivated literature and music that was strongly influenced by humanistic values and ordered Willaert to compose many madrigals and motets for them. This order was quite risky because it helped to spread the same republican ideas that had forced Willaert's clients into exile. Because of that reason the manuscript of the Musica Nova circulated round and round before it was printed finally in 1559. In fact because of it's political backround and it's extraordinary quality the Musica Nova was a kind of open secret and this forbidden fruit attracted a lot of European music enthusiasts to come to Italy, even before its first edition. It was regarded as modern especially for the extraordinary way Willaert expressed words and phrases of Petrarca's lyrics. The title Musica Nova itselfs gives us the motto behind Willaert's composition. His contemporaries realized this music as very new and vanguard. Musica Nova contains motets and madrigals - the intensity of these pieces that express in their universal language themes like the unfulfilled love to "Laura" or the longing for the lost and unreachable is still touching us deeply today.
RinascitaConsort invited composers to altercate with Willaerts Musica Nova and the early violinband as a formation. The idea was to compose something new on that basis, inspired by Willaert, carrying on the impulses he once gave to our days. The idea behind is - to invite the audience to enter in different sound-spheres and to serve a deeper tribute to Musica Nova. Additionally, we want to reach more and different types of audience than usual. We usually have a specific audience for Early Music and a specific audience for Contemporary Music, so we would like to bring them together.
Other thoughts to this project of RinascitaConsort have been:
Why do we have today this affection for "historism" in all fields - even in television shows? Why
is most of the repertoire that we listen to in concerts from the 19th century or before? Why did
we start with historical performance practice? Why does that say a lot not only about "modern"
performance practice but also about our contemporary music?
Is this the only way, to have this rich musical inheritance and to enjoy performing and studying
it as best as we can, or, is there a chance that historical performance practice influences not
only modern performance practice but even creates new music...
Program - Musica Nova by Adrian Willaert
Selection of Madrigals and Motets from Musica Nova by Adrian Willaert:
instrumental Music by Willaert
contempory music in altercation to Musica Nova
by different composers like Thuon Burtevitz or Cecilia Arditto
