Polyhymnia
Spiritual Madrigals and Concerts
in Venice and beyond the Alp
Vyšehradská 49/320, Praha 2 – Nové Město
Artists
Magdalene Harer – soprano
Joowon Chung – soprano
Alexander Schneider – countertenor, artistic director
Johannes Gaubitz – tenor
Christopher Renz – tenor
Matthias Lutze – bass
Juliane Laake – violon
Klaus Eichhorn – organ
Programme
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672)
Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes
Ich bin ein rechter Weinstock
Unser Wandel ist im Himmel
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
Nisi Dominus
Carl Wolfgang Briegel (1626–1712)
Ach Herr, lehre doch mich
Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt
Ich habe dich ein klein Augenblick verlassen
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611–1675)
Ach Herr wie ist meiner Feinde so viel
Ich lieg und schlafe
Giovanni Antonio Rigatti (ca 1613–1648)
Tota pulchra es
O suavissimum verbum
Michael Praetorius (1571–1621)
Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist
Christoph Bernhard (1628–1692)
Wie der Hirsch schreiet
and others
Annotation
The German Ensemble Polyharmonique, performing in Prague for the very first time, will be “kissed” by the Muse of Hymn Singing and Choral Lyrics, Polyhymnia, under the vaults of the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Slavic Saints (the Emmaus Monastery). The other muse of the evening will undoubtedly be Italian music, which, in several waves, inspired the musical culture of the 17th century in the rest of Europe. The spiritual atmosphere of the Emmaus Monastery will draw the audience into the programme with its attractive dramaturgy and direct confrontation of Italian models with their echoes in Protestant Germany.
Heinrich Schütz, the most important pre-Bachian German composer, studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi, who influenced him greatly. Although his Transalpine colleagues and followers never visited Italy, they completely adopted its musical styles. The captivating beauty of their spiritual concertos, motets and madrigals will grace the ceremonial opening of the 24th edition of the Summer Festivities of Early Music.
We offer a ticket to the concert for 100 CZK for students! For more information click here.
Venue
Vyšehradská 49/320, Praha 2 – Nové Město
Show on mapPartners of the concert
The concert is held with the financial support of the Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds.
Artists
Ensemble Polyharmonique
The Ensemble Polyharmonique is a collective of singers from the early music scene of Europe. The music of the Renaissance and the Baroque era form the core repertoire of the ensemble. Taking historical performance practice into account, Ensemble Polyharmonique combines ideas from German and Franco-Flemish vocal culture to create lively poetic interpretations.
Invitations to festivals all over Europe indicate the international appreciation of the Ensemble Polyharmonique. These include the Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Bachfest Leipzig, Meer Stemmig Gent, the Stockholm Early Music Festival, the Summer Festivities of Early Music in Prague, Les Nuits de Septembre in Liège, the Trigonale in Klagenfurt, the Thüringer Bachwochen, the Händel-Festspiele in Halle, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, the Heinrich Schütz Musikfest, the Köthener Bachfesttage, etc.
For the repertoire with instrumental accompaniment, such as the oratorios, masses and cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, Claudio Monteverdi or Georg Frideric Handel, the ensemble has gained renowned Baroque orchestras as partners, among them the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Wrocławska Orkiestra Barokowa, Freiburger Barockorchester, Holland Baroque, L’Arpa Festante, Arte dei Suonatori and the Orkiestra Historyczna.
In addition to the well-known repertoire of early music, the Ensemble Polyharmonique is dedicated to discovering unknown works of the 17th and 18th centuries. This work is accompanied by numerous CD recordings (2015: “Musicalische Seelenlust”; 2016: “Francesco Cavalli: Requiem”; 2017: “Chor-Music auff Madrigal-Manier”; 2019: “Johann Georg Künstel: Markuspassion”; 2020: “Heinrich Schütz: Geistliche Chor-Music 1648”; 2021: “Historia Nativitatis”; 2022: “Wolfgang Carl Briegel: Zwölf Madrigalische Trost-Gesänge”, “Johann David Heinichen: Dresden Vespers”, “Lambert de Sayve: Ad Vesperas” and “Bach Family”) and video productions.
Together with the music dramaturge Oliver Geisler, members of the ensemble developed the idea of interpreting Heinrich Schütz’ Auferstehungshistorie in a contemporary manner, staging it as a music film. Encouraged by Schütz’ own phrase, “das Werk für die Hand zu nehmen“ (“to take the work in hand”), they have found an entirely new approach to this Baroque masterwork: today’s viewers are confronted with the ways they deal with doubt, hope, consolation, fear and unbridled happiness.
