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CHRISTMAS CONCERT
LIVE IN STREAMING DECEMBER 23rd at 9PM
LORENZO DONATI conducts the CHOIR OF THE SIENA CATHEDRAL
O EMMANUEL - Spiritual and Musical Reflection on the seven major “Antiphons O”
Micat in Vertice 2020-2021 CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Sapientia
Avro Pärt
from Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen (1988/1991)
n. 1 O Weisheit
James MacMillan
from The Strathclyde Motets (2007)
O radiant dawn
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Adonai
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Radix Jesse
Jacob Handl Gallus
Radix Jesse
Anton Bruckner
Virga Jesse (1885)
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Clavis David
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Oriens
Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa
from Sacrarum cantionum
liber secundus (1603)
O Oriens
Avro Pärt
from Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen (1988/1991),
n. 6 O König aller Völker
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Rex Gentium
Antifona gregoriana al Magnificat
O Emmanuel
Zoltán Kodály
Veni, veni Emmanuel (1943)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Hodie Christus natus est
Francis Poulenc
from 4 Motets pour le temps de Noël (1952)
n.4 Hodie Christus natus est
Interpreters
CHOIR OF THE SIENA CATHEDRAL
LORENZO DONATI conductor
Live Recording by Accademia Musicale Chigiana
Cattedrale di Siena
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Advent is celebrated on the seven days preceding Christmas Eve, the Church celebrates the Vespers of the liturgy of the Hours with particular solemnity. The seven prayers—the Great Antiphons, or O Antiphons—are among the richest treasures of Advent. The Antiphons to the canticle of the Magnificat stand out for the richness of the contents and the unitary formal design of the texts. The Major antiphons, the text of which is repeated in the same days also in the Liturgy, as a verse of the Acclamation to the Gospel, are also called Antiphons “O”, because they all begin with the acclamation of amazement “O”. In addition to the initial acclamation, the Antiphons to the Magnificat are united by a second concluding invocation “Veni”. These two nodes, around which all textual and melodic discourse is linked, are covered by the same melody.
Another unifying element on the melodic level is the particular hue imparted by the Gregorian chant, the range of sounds, from which the degrees of the composition are chosen. The way used for the major Advent antiphons is the second way, which medieval authors de ned secundus tristis. In fact, his deployment to the grave and his limited ascents invite us to consider him sad, or saddened, depressed. This connotation is correct, but incomplete, because it is also suitable for expressing a kind of satisfaction and security. The two aspects of sadness and peace may seem contradictory. But in both cases it is introspective. The second way bends over itself. Thus the second way is the richest in humanity. The key sounds gravitate around D and F, adorned with the neighboring sounds mi and sol. The do, the lowest sound of the antiphons, provides a solid foundation for the king. The apex, on the other hand, is given by the yes, the peak that almost always coincides with the fulcrum of the antiphon. The melodic structure is built in a mirror: the song opens and ends with the same melodic formula, while in the center the characteristic section is linked to the image that is meditated on every day. Each antiphon is conceptually linked to the previous one, as if every day the liturgy picks up the discourse from where it had been left the day before and integrates it by increasing the atmosphere of expectation. In various, but interrelated ways the antiphons voice the ultimate petition of Scripture—“Come, Lord Jesus”. Collectively they also suggest Christ’s response to that plea: the seven titles in Latin—Sapientia, Adonai, Radix Jesse, Clavis David, Oriens, Rex Gentium, and Emmanuel—in reverse order form an acrostic ERO CRAS which means “I am coming soon.”
Anna Passarini
English translation, Samantha Stout
The “GUIDO CHIGI SARACINI” CHOIR OF THE SIENA CATHEDRAL is one of the most significant musical realities in the city of Siena in recent times in terms of production and dissemination of choral repertoire of wide international scope. It was created in September 2016 thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and the Opera della Metropolitana di Siena.
The stable artistic complex, formed by a variable number of singers from all over Italy, combines the commitment of liturgical inspiration with the realization of concerts of high artistic value, placing itself at the top of a vast performance and interpretative practice, which embraces the sacred liturgical repertoire, in addition to a more broad cultural and concert repertoire with the aim of enriching the artistic heritage of the community.
The choir is the protagonist of countless concerts with highly prestigious musical programs, and world premieres both with a cappella and with orchestra. Their past performances have ranged from Missa Brevis by Palestrina to Berliner Messe by Pärt, from Lux aeterna by Ligeti to Spem in alium by Tallis, from Singet dem Herrn and Jesu, meine Freude by Bach, motetti by Bianciardi and Gabrieli, a Requiem by Pizzetti, and a double choir Mass by Martin and Banchieri, choral Lieder and Schicksalslied by Brahms up to Tigran Mansurian, Stimmung by Stockhausen and Nuits by Xenakis. Since its formation, the ensemble has been committed to the musical and liturgical animation of the main celebrations of the liturgical calendar of the Siena Cathedral in the most beautiful and heartfelt pages of the sacred, religious and liturgical choral tradition.
The Choir of the Cathedral of Siena “Guido Chigi Saracini” is conducted by LORENZO DONATI, a name of excellence on the international scene who has been leading the specialization course in choral conducting at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana’s Summer Academy since 2017.
A composer, conductor and violinist, he studied in Arezzo and Florence, simultaneously attending masterclasses at Chigiana, the Fiesole Music School, and the French Academy. As choir director he graduated from the three-year course of the “Guido d’Arezzo” Foundation and then continued his postgraduate studies. In 2007, he won both categories of the international competition for choir conductors “Mariele Ventre” of Bologna and a few years later, in the four-year period 2010-2014, he conducted the Italian Youth Choir.
In addition to the conducting the Choir of the Cathedral “Guido Chigi Saracini” he carries out an intense concert activity with Insieme Vocale Vox Cordis, with which he won first prizes and special prizes in national and international competitions in Arezzo, Cantonigròs, Gorizia, Montreux, Senlis, Tours , Varna, Vittorio Veneto. He also conducts UT Together vocal-consonant, with which in 2016 he won the highest award in the choral field, the Gran Prix for Choral Singing. Since 2007, Donati has taught composition and choral conducting at the FA Bonporti Conservatory of Trento, where also conducts the Chamber Choir.
Appreciated composer as well as conductor, he collaborates with various cultural institutions such as the Guido d’Arezzo Foundation, of which he also takes care of the teaching aspect in the context of the three-year and two-year specialization school for choir directors. He collaborates with the Spring Festival and Polyphonic Meeting Festival Città di Fano as artistic director and teacher.