Good morning! Day six of the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht 2024. Five wonderful days have already passed and there is just as much beauty to come.
A recap
Yesterday, Javier Núñez played in the Lutherse Kerk in the fourth concert of the Música Ibérica series. In addition, a choir of amateur singers was prepared in one day by Marco Mencoboni for their festival debut. In the evening, the Main Hall of TivoliVredenburg was transformed into a Seville cathedral by Gabrieli Consort & Players in honour of a feast for Saint Isodorus.
Fringetour in illustrations
Have you been to any of the more than 80 free fringe concerts? On Sunday, illustrator and early music lover Carline Vrielink took part in the fringe tour for Ambassadors of Early Music. Of course, that had to be captured in her beautiful way!
Semi-final Internationaal Van Wassenaer Competition
Semi-final International Van Wassenaer Competition
Today begins the International Van Wassenaer Competition - Baroque Edition. In the Hertz of TivoliVredenburg, 10 ensembles will show their talent and be judged by an international professional jury. The ensembles that drop out in the semi-finals will be offered a coaching session by (one of) the jury members. The best musicians (up to four ensembles) will advance to the finals. There they compete for various money prizes and a paid concert tour.
Both rounds are open to the public and free to visit. Also watch it live on EMTV.
View the programme bookletTip van het team: Música Temprana
Every year, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht is also a feast for the people behind the scenes. Marketing & communications employee Memouna is present for the first time this year and cannot wait to discover new music.
'As someone with no understanding of early music, picking a concert can still be quite a challenge. But I was lucky enough to be able to record a beautiful video with Música Temprana for the upcoming festival. A small private concert was not excluded in the process. The soothing voices of the ensemble, accompanied by graceful instruments ensured that I spent an hour listening in silence and wonder. So for the aficionado, as well as the new explorer of early music, a wonderful recommendation!’
Componiser of the day: Alonso Mudarra
The vihuela was a very popular instrument in Spain in the sixteenth century. The sounds of this precursor to the guitar also evoke a sense of Spanish atmospheres for many. Today, the composer of the day is one of the most influential vihuelists: Alonso Mudarra (c. 1510-1580).
As is often the case, we do not know exactly where Mudarra was born, but we do know that he spent most of his life in Seville. This is where he ended up in 1546 after working in Italy for a time, and also the city that he never left. He was a priest there in the cathedral of Seville and also worked with Francisco Guerrero, among others.
Upon his arrival in Seville in 1546, Mudarra also published his book Tres libros de música en cifra para vihuela, three music books et in them tablature (a notation that many guitarists will be familiar with) for vihuela. The first two books contain instrumental pieces in different styles such as danzas, fantasias and glozas, mostly set to parts from polyphonic masses by Josquin. The third book of Mudarra's collection for vihuela contains all kinds of songs with vocals. Mudarra managed to superbly reduce polyphonic pieces to just one vihuelist and vocalist.
It cannot really be otherwise than that vihuela concerts at this festival always feature Alonso Mudarra. With today Enrike Solinis, the string virtuoso who earlier this week left audiences raving after concerts with his Euskal Barrokensemble. You will also often hear pieces by Mudarra as instrumental additions to vocal concerts. Cantoría tonight, for instance, alternates villanescos by Guerrero with Fantasías by Mudarra.
Also on the programme today...
...Baroque Spanish cathedral music, silent music and a vesper chiming & lecture on the bells throughout the city of Utrecht.
Vandaag op EMTV
With EMTV, you can watch live streams each day from Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht 2024. With today:
In conclusion: did you know that...
… Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht is made possible to a large extent by some 100 volunteers? With their eternal smile on their faces, boundless helpfulness and enormous enthusiasm, they make it a huge success every year. Thank you to all our volunteers!
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. You can specify your preferences below. Read more in our privacy statement.
Analytical cookies
These cookies ensure the proper functioning of the website (e.g. cookies for login or for remembering items in the shopping cart).
Functional cookies
We use cookies for web analysis and optimization of the user experience on the website. Cookies are set in order to detect discrepancies on the site, such as broken links and accessibility errors, and to analyze how users use the site.
No results found.