Juan Carlos Asensio Palacios

The knowledge of how liturgical chant is performed is fundamental for those who want to approach many of the early music repertoires. This course is designed to teach directors and performers how to approach and perform liturgical chant, and how to use this knowledge in developing programs directly focused on Chant or on repertoires derived from it.

2016 Theme: Liturgical Drama

The liturgical or paraliturgical compositions known as Liturgical Dramas occupy a privileged place in the history of medieval music. These dramatic pieces, which are mostly connected to the Christmas and Easter celebrations, are considered the seed of the future theatrical performances of the Middle Ages. Liturgical dramas seemed to have been developed out of tropes performed at the end of Matins or interspersed in the Proprium Missae. The dramas that survive in the manuscript from Fleury and Winchester, in the Codex Buranus, in the troparies from Vic, and in the Franco-Norman manuscripts currently held in the National Library of Madrid, allow us to reconstruct this exquisite liturgical-musical tradition.

The Easter Plays from Carmina Burana

In 2016 our Liturgical Chant Program will reconstruct a performance of the Easter liturgical dramas included in the famous Carmina Burana collection (Codice Buranus, Munich, Bavarian State Library, clm. 4660). These compositions that celebrate the resurrection of Christ are a great example of the medieval taste for narrative and drama. Since the unheighted neume notation that records the melodies of these pieces in the Codex Buranus cannot be read with certainty, other concordant sources containing a more detailed notation will be used for this reconstruction.

Schedule:

http://www.medievalmusicbesalu.com/schedule-2016/#chant

More Info:

http://www.medievalmusicbesalu.com/liturgical-chant-program/