Abbey Concert #1 - Mystical silence and polyphonic richness

In 1125, a few Benedictine monks founded a priory, which later became an abbey. Wandering guests find refuge there and are impressed by the Gregorian chants and sacred sounds in the Romanesque church. Heavenly.

At all the feasts in honour of Mary, the abbey's patron saint, you will hear carillons and heavenly songs, accompanied by fiddles, flutes and sonorous organs. Polyphony was born in Flanders and has blossomed over many generations, offering an inexhaustible wealth of polyphonic sounds. Impressive.

In 1572, the life of the abbey came to an abrupt end. The buildings were destroyed. The monks fled to Leuven. The music illustrates the devastation as if the earth were shaking. The lament of Jeremias, who mourned the fall of Jerusalem, echoes over the rubble. "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me". Haunting.

Ensemble Currende

You may know Ensemble Currende and Erik Van Nevel from the heavenly Christmas concerts in St Peter's Church. The ensemble is a great advocate of Flemish polyphony, but they are equally at home with the early baroque music of Schütz or Monteverdi. And they are also very familiar with the High Baroque.

New compositions are increasingly on the programme, but always in combination with early music. A characteristic of Currende is the infectious and convincing way in which the music is performed. This, together with the pursuit of a particularly pure intonation, makes Currende easily recognisable.

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artistic direction Erik Van Nevel with Ensemble Currende (five vocalists and instruments including flute, fiddles, trombone, organetto)