Diabolus in Musica: Cantores

The Pope’s Chapel in Avignon in the 14th Century

 

Antoine Guerber, Artistic Director

Raphaël Boulay, tenor; Olivier Germond, tenor

Romain Bockler, baritone; Igor Bouin, baritone

Emmanuel Vistorky, bass-baritone; Philippe Roche, bass

 

For a little less than a century, the Christian world had its eyes set on Avignon, for French popes lived there from 1309 on. Its wealth, its splendor, its places of power attracted kings, princes and the greatest artists of the century. Within the Curia, the papal chapel was an institution gathering the best singers and composers of the Western world. The talents of these “cantores” flowered into a Mass of a new kind, the polyphonic mass, and in the Motet, an extraordinary experimental ground, leading to the resounding triumph of polyphony and the audacious stylistic novelties of Ars Nova. The program is a journey among the great manuscripts born in the Avignon sphere and includes many works that have not been sung since the 14th century, interpreted in a manner very close to that of the Avignon papal chapel: 6 male voices, a cappella.

 

“Diabolus in Musica go right to the heart of an exciting era of musical development when musicians were exploring the very essence of sound and the blending of sounds, rhythms and vocal timbres.”

— Gramophone Magazine

 

Note the exceptional time of this concert starting at 5:30 pm

We encourage advance ticket purchase as seating is limited.

 

Note: The following three chamber concerts take place on Sunday afternoons at the First Unitarian Church, at the corner of Benefit and Benevolent Streets. Parking is available in the church lot, and there is a ramp for the handicapped at the door nearest the Parish House, off Benevolent Street.