Tip from the team: Camerata Trajectina

Today, head of marketing & communications Vera lovingly and enthusiastically tips Camerata Trajectina's concerts today and Sunday.

'Well, Camerata Trajectina. As a resident of Utrecht, this ensemble has a special place in my early music heart. Their concerts are always one big party ánd rock solid, like recently at the Festival Oude Muziek Tournees. As a musicology student, I had lessons from founder Louis Peter Grijp, and I am enormously impressed by their unbridled dedication to forgotten Dutch repertoire. The fact that they are also going to celebrate their 50th anniversary with us is a huge honour in my opinion.'

Composer of the day: Francisco Guerrero

Each composer of the day is associated with one or more concerts of the same day. In that respect, it would have been just as well possible to highlight Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599) for the past six days as well. He is one of the greatest composers of sixteenth-century Spain, alongside his contemporary Tomás Luis de Victoria.

Guerrero spent most of his life in Seville, where he played an important role in the city's musical life. At a young age, he performed as a singer and instrumentalist in the cathedral there. At the age of 17, he was appointed chapel master in Jaén, but soon returned to Seville, where he made a name for himself as a composer and singer.

In Seville, Guerrero worked as chapel master at the cathedral, a position he would hold for the rest of his life. He was responsible for composing music for mass celebrations, training choristers, and organising religious music performances. Under his leadership, the cathedral's musical activity flourished. Moreover, Guerrero's compositions were admired not only in Spain but also throughout Europe.

Due to his position, Guerrero wrote mainly religious music, such as masses, motets, hymns and other church songs. His compositions are characterised by rich polyphony, expressive melodies and a deep emotional charge, beautifully bringing to life the spirituality of the Catholic liturgy. He also composed a fair number of villanescos: secular songs that are often playful and lively. These songs, written in Spanish and usually for three or four voices, highlighted everyday themes such as love, joy and nature. They show a lighter, folksy side of his musical talent.

As mentioned, Guerrero appears on the programme every day to a lesser and greater extent. Today, he has a small role in Stile Antico's concert, as one of the composers whose music travelled overseas to the so-called New World. Comet Musicke today gives their concert Francisco Guerrero: soul of Seville. In it, works by Guerrero form the core, and we travel musically through his contemporaries, inspirers and imitators.

Also on the programme today

... including songs from the Cancionero de Palacio, keyboard music by Moravian brethren and the myth of the ballad.

Today on EMTV

With EMTV, you can watch livestreams from Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht 2024 every day. Featuring today:

Highlights for the final weekend...
Have you already got tickets for the last few days? If not: here are our recommendations!

Friday, August 30:

• La Grande Chapelle sings Alonso Lobo's Missa Beata Dei Genitrix in the Dom Church.
• Didn't manage to get a ticket for L'Arpeggiata? Come to the EMTV Streaming Session at TivoliVredenburg, Cloud Nine and watch the concert live together on big screen.

Saturday, August 31:

• The Orkest van de Achttiende Eeuw will be joined on stage by none other than Arthur Japin, who wrote a story on Haydn's Seven Last Words especially for this concert.
• Opera Omnia invites you to a festive collection of music from South American cathedrals.

Sunday 1 September

• Rising star Juan Sancho sings jubilant as well as solemn songs scribed for Seville Cathedral with La Chimera.
• In the final concert, Arlequin Philosophe commemorates the tragedy surrounding Kourou with music that resonated in this colony in French Guiana.

To conclude: did you know that...
... we are joining Musicaz' music evenings during three nights this year? At Utrecht's asylum centres, people meet every week to sing together, improvise or recite something.

Musician, composer and teacher at the conservatory Jonás Bisquert started these regular evenings more than a decade ago. It is a place where different cultural and musical backgrounds find each other, inspire, learn from each other and continue making music together. Last night, we joined the AZC on Biltsestraatweg. From Kurdish to Farsi and Dutch: there was singing in many languages. Everyone is invited to join in, whether it's clapping a rhythm or playing guitar. Music is fraternising and gets us to know each other. Perhaps you will see an instrument you know from a festival concert, or a nice link will be made to our festival theme this year. Visit Musicaz tonight at 20:00 and join in!