Beeldenstorm: het Requiem van Jean Richafort
In August 1566, men wearing red sashes – symbols of resistance against Philip II – stormed St Peter’s Church in Leiden in an act of open rebellion against Spanish rule and the Catholic Church. Although guards initially managed to drive the vandals away, a mob of raging iconoclasts broke in that night. The church fell victim to the fury of the rebellious crowd.
Much of the church interior was destroyed, but a few valuable items were spared. Hidden away in the locked sacristy, out of reach of destructive hands, lay a collection of precious manuscripts. Choir books containing sacred music by the most renowned Franco-Flemish composers of the time thus managed to escape the iconoclastic fury.
One of these so-called Leiden Choir Books contains a transcription of Jean Richafort’s six-part Requiem, presumably composed in memory of his renowned teacher Josquin des Prez. By placing the mass within its liturgical context, Cappella Pratensis reconstructs the requiem mass as it might have sounded in Leiden between the copying of Richafort’s composition in 1559 and the looting of the church in 1566, including dramatic elements such as bells and processions.
Bio
Cappella Pratensis is a Dutch vocal ensemble specialising in polyphonic music from the Renaissance period. Under the baton of Tim Braithwaite, the ensemble performs directly from historical notation. As an ensemble in residence at the Alamire Foundation, Cappella Pratensis explores this repertoire by examining historical improvisation, pedagogical methods and liturgical reconstructions.
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>>> This concert is part of Voices of Passion 2027.
During this festival edition, discover how Franco-Flemish composers of the 16th century travelled along international routes, finding fertile ground wherever they went. Along with them, music—preserved in manuscript and print—resounded in numerous urban centres, at princely courts, and in chapels, churches, and cathedrals.
Leuven and polyphony have been closely intertwined for centuries. Together with the Alamire Foundation, 30CC highlights this tradition, as well as current scholarship and performance practice, during the Passion of the Voices festival.
More info
artistic direction Tim Braithwaite with Tim Braithwaite, Andrew Hallock, Korneel Van Neste, Erjan van der Velde, Lior Leibovici, Peter de Laurentiis and Jonty Coy
Ticket prices
€ 25 - check our reductions
