Second part of a double concert about light and darkness, from the golden years of the city of Antwerp to its fall and, in parallel, from the glory years to the fateful end of two polyphonic composers in Antwerp, unacknowledged and penniless: Hubert Waelrant (1517-1595) and Séverin Cornet (1530-1582).
Waelrant, a Franco-Flemish polyphonist who spent most of his life in Antwerp, started out as a printer in the early 1550s and worked as a music teacher as well. Most of his music that is known to us was published in Antwerp. Towards the end of his life, he was plagued by financial troubles. He was buried in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp.
Cornet’s career took a similar turn for the worse: after his training in Naples, he was taken on as a singer in Antwerp. From 1572 onwards, he worked there at the Cathedral of Our Lady as the Kapellmeister. He lost his job a year before his death.
This second part, Hunger Years, is wreathed in darkness. Religious laments and motets, as well as impressive, dramatic six and seven-part madrigals reflect the years of decline and oppression: the period spanning the iconoclasm in 1566, the Sack of Antwerp, Calvinist rule and the fall of Antwerp.
Performers
Teodora Tommasi, soprano | Florencia Menconi, mezzo-soprano | Andrew Hallock, Razek François Bitar, countertenor | Albert Riera, Gabriel Belkheiri, André Perez Muiño, tenor | Noé Chapolard, baritone | Tomàs Maxé, Arnout Malfliet, bass | Lluis Coll i Trulls, cornett | Philippe Malfeyt, ceterone | Floris De Rycker, lute & guitar | Björn Schmelzer, artistic leader
