'A TUDOR CHRISTMAS'
Christmas Eve around 1600: at the court of Queen Elizabeth I singers and viol players gather around the organ. The endearing sound of Christmas-carols alternated with intimate consort-songs and verse-anthems emanates through the room.
- a reconstruction -
Trinity Boys Choir - EIGHT L'ARMONIA SONORA viol-consort
Orlando GIBBONS, William BYRD, John DOWLAND, Thomas TALLIS a.o.
‘AUS TIEFER NOT’
1 Psalm
200 years of music
How does a composer handle a
psalm text full of contrasts?
How can misery, but also hope for forgiveness and salvation, be expressed in music?
The program ‘Aus tiefer Not’ illustrates how different composers were inspired by this psalm.
settings by Walther, Schütz, Huygens, Rosenmüller, Bernhard, Bach
L’ARMONIA SONORA with
Hana Blazíkovà-Soprano, Margot Oitzinger-Alto,
Reinoud van Mechelen-Tenor, Peter Kooij-Bas
-TOMBEAUX-
musical 'obituaries' following the death of a beloved colleague or teacher
a colourful program with deeply moving 'Tombeaux' by Robert de Visée, Marin Marais, Louis Couperin, Sieur de Ste. Colombe in different instrumental settings..
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mieneke van der Velden,
Jaap ter Linden,
viola da gamba
Benjamin Alard,
harpsichord
Fred Jacobs,
theorbo
J.S. BACH – SONATAS
-Original and transcribed works for viola da gamba
- Bachs viola da gamba-Sonatas (BWV 1027-1029) also exist in other versions. For example, Bach himself used the first viola da gamba-sonata as a trio sonata for 2-traverso and continuo.
For this program we have made our own transcriptions of the sonatas whilst leaving the harmonies and idioms of Bach untouched.
In this way Bach's chamber-sonatas are cast anew in the rich sonorities of strings and organ that are so dear to us in L'Armonia Sonora.
L’ARMONIA SONORA
Mieneke van der Velden – viola da gamba, François Fernandez – violin
Ricardo Rodríguez Miranda – viola da gamba, Leo van Doeselaar - organ
CD RAM 0801
Classic Affairs, NL (april 2008), nr. 2
“ (...) the music of Bach (...), food for the soul if it is performed by top-musicians such as Mieneke van der Velden
HOMMAGES
Mieneke van der Velden, viola da gamba
Glen Wilson, harpsichord
- The famous French composers Marin Marais, Antoine Forqueray, François Couperin and Charles Dollé often named their works after other composers to show mutual respect.
They composed musical ‘obituaries’ following the death of a beloved colleague or teacher (Tombeau pour Marais le Père by Dollé and Tombeau pour Mr. De Lully by Marais), and also real Hommages out of pure veneration of a colleague-composer (La Superbe ou La Forqueray by Couperin and La Leclair, La Rameau by Forqueray) etcetera.
A program full of worship, grandeur and sadness.
CD RAMEE
'IMAGES’
Mieneke van der Velden, viola da gamba
Fred Jacobs, theorbe
- A program of works by Marin Marais, the most outstanding composer for the viola da gamba -
Marais was a master in the writing of so-called Pièces de Caractère, in which he called upon the most diverse subjects for inspiration: Sarabande La Désolée (the desolate), La Guitare, Feste Champêtre (country fair), Le Tableau de l’Opération de la Taille (a description of a gallstone operation!) and so on.
The choice of 'Images' in Marais’ five books of "Pièces de violes” is endless
CD RAMEE ; CD of the month, The STRAD
‘SALVE MI JESU’
Rich and radiant Motets and Sonatas by the great Johann Rosenmuller
- In the Staatsbibliothek of Berlin we discovered a wealth of cantatas by Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684), which have never been published or performed in recent times.
The collection contains cantatas in highly varied settings - our program offers cantatas from one soloist, 2 violins and continuo, up to 3 soloists, 5 strings and 5 winds.
Rosenmüller knew better than any other how to set texts to music – his expression of different moods in the instrumental as well as the vocal parts penetrates the listener.
L'Armonia Sonora with three top-soloists and the world-famous ensemble Concerto Palatino.
Hána Blazíkovà, soprano
Robin Blaze, countertenor
Peter Kooij, bass
L’Armonia Sonora – Mieneke van der Velden
Concerto Palatino - Bruce Dickey / Charles Toet
‘DE PROFUNDIS CLAMAVI'
- Spiritual cantatas by Bruhns, Weckmann, Buns, etc.
The 17e-century cantatas in the program De Profundis clamavi tell of a deep devotion together with the misery of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) . The circumstances inspired the North-German composers to write distressing cries filled with despair, doubt and reflection.
Peter KOOIJ - bass
L’ARMONIA SONORA – Mieneke van der Velden
CD RAM 0604
Goldberg nr. 45 (April 2007). 5 Stars
[...] Bass Peter Kooij's deeply expressive singing and virtuoso technique and the rich tonal beauty of the strings of L'Armonia Sonora, make this a highly rewarding recording of brilliant repertoire. [...]
‘HARMONIAE SACRAE’
- Spiritual dialogue-cantatas
A program with 17th Century dialogues from North-Germany and its surroundings culminating with the famous Lamento Wie liegt die Stadt so wüste (How is the city so desolate) by Matthias Weckmann. Following the devastating plague of 1663 in which 20,000 people died, Weckmann wrote this cantata in memory of his many colleagues who lost their lives.
The program also includes less well-known and largely unpublished cantatas and dialogues by Christoph Bernhard, Valentin Meder Benedictus a Sancto Josepho amongst others.
L'ARMONIA SONORA
with
HANA BLAZIKOVA, SOPRANO
PETER KOOIJ, BASS
