Opening concert
“Tota pulchra es Maria — You are all beautiful, Mary”

Villő & Voces Æquales vocal ensembles

Monday, 24 August 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Szokolya, Calvinist Church (5 Mányoki Street)

Performing

Villő Folk Vocal Ensemble

  • Katalin Dobák
  • Kata Horváti
  • Ágnes Szabó
  • Ágnes Papp

Voces Æquales

  • Zoltán Gavodi — counter-tenor
  • Csaba Gyulai — tenor
  • András Koncz — baritone
  • Zoltán Mizsei — baritone

Programme

  • Hungarian folk hymns and Gregorian chants to the Virgin Mary

The co-production of Villő Folk Vocal Ensemble and Voces Æquales connects ancient Hungarian chants and medieval renaissance Europe’s church music through the person of Holy Mary. Praise chants of communities celebrating in their mother tongue and those of professional singers serving in Latin have the same contextual and musical roots. Mary is the perfect example of self-devotion to God, which is expressed in deep and rich feelings. The programme follows turning points in human life and festive seasons of the Church by representing Mary-metaphors present in both medieval Europe and Hungarian folk traditions.

Villő Folk Vocal Ensemble

Villő Folk Vocal Ensemble was formed from folk singers in Budapest in 1999. Besides performing traditional folk songs and arrangements, their repertoire also includes sacred music. The world of Hungarian folk chants, Gregorian chants in Latin, archaic prayers are an organic part of both folk and church music. The ensemble endeavours to give an authentic performance of folk religion by uniting the liveliness of folk music and the richness of sacred music. Besides their concerts held in Budapest and in the country, they have performed with other classical and folk musicians and singers. They have published four CD recordings so far.

Voces Æquales

Voces Æquales is comprised of male-singers, who came together in 1993 under this name to perform the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance. They have given concerts all over Europe since then, and were praised by audience and critics first of all for their vigorous performance. However, Voces Æquales are not only interested in the profession of performing, but are also concerned to create homogeneous programmes on a carefully thought out conceptual basis. The ensemble produced eight CDs: Officium de cruce (1997), Apocalypsis (1998), Genesis (1999), Tempora (2000), Ecce Maria genuit (2001), Motets by Thomas Stoltzer (2003), The Voice of Bakfark (2005) and Mass and Motets by Tinctoris (2008).

Villő Folk Vocal Ensemble & Voces Æquales
Villő Folk Vocal Ensemble & Voces Æquales