Vesperae in Nativitate Domine

Ensemble Currende, Erik van Nevel

A Vespers Liturgy for Christmas ‘Ad vesperas’ – literally ‘at dusk’ – indicates the hour at which monks and other clerics of the Western church joined together (and indeed continue to do so) for the evening service, one of the eight daily hours of prayer, known as the ‘offices’. The offices were generally less solemn and ornate than mass celebrations, except for Vespers, which especially in Italy reached a liturgical and musical highpoint, particularly on important feast-days in the church calendar. Like the other offices and the mass, Vespers follows a fixed pattern, whereby daily recurring texts and chants alternate with elements specifically associated with a particular feast. Among the fixed ingredients are the five psalms with their antiphons and then a hymn, all of which is crowned by the Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise upon visiting her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1: 46-55). These texts were originally sung in monody, but later, especially starting in the 16th century, they were performed polyphonically (at least in part). In 1550 a collection of polyphonic settings of the psalms was published in Venice. The composers were Adriaan Willaert, the Flemish-born Kapell­meister of the San Marco basilica, and his French colleague Jacques Colebault, better known as Jacquet of Mantua. Choirmasters now had at their disposal a broad choice of polyphonic works with which to adorn their Vesper services.

Cozzolani:
 Gloria in Altissimis Deo
 
Gabrieli, G:
 Hodie Christus natus est a 10
 Canzon Terza a 4
 
Monteverdi:
 Dixit Dominus (Selva Morale ed altre raccolte spirituali)
 Confitebor tibi, Domine
 Beatus vir (from Selva Morale e Spirituali)
 Laudate pueri
 Gloria in excelsis (from Selva Morale e Spirituali)
 Laudate Dominum from Selva morale e spirituale
 Christe, Redemptor Omnium
 Magnificat (from Selva Morale e Spirituali)

"Even een rondje terug in de tijd. Het begin van de zeventiende eeuw was misschien wel een van de turbulentste momenten in de muziekgeschiedenis. Terwijl de renaissance op zijn retour was, won de nieuwe barokke stijl langzaam terrein. De enorme meerstemmige bouwwerken maakten plaats voor meer homofoon gedachte werken. De Italiaan Claudio Monteverdi stond midden in deze ontwikkeling. Vaak vermengen de oude en de nieuwe tijd zich in zijn werk. Dat gebeurde in zijn beroemdste compositie voor de Vespers, Il vespro della Beata Virgine, maar ook in de zo’n tien jaar geleden door het Vlaamse Currende onder leiding van Eric van Nevel ‘geconstrueerde’ Vesperae in Nativitate Domine. Een ‘kerstvespers’ van Monteverdi, bestaande uit werken als Laudate pueri, Beatus vir en Laudate Dominum. Het had zo kunnen zijn in het midden van de zeventiende eeuw in de San Marco van Venetië. Het kan inmiddels in elk geval in de huiskamer, want deze meesterlijke opname is nu gewoon weer beschikbaar. En kerst volgens Monteverdi is nog steeds om stil van te worden."
Klassieke Zaken Magazine