Special guests: Nell Snaidas & Estelí Gomez, soprano; Kirsten Sollek, alto; Jonatan Alvarado, tenor & lute; Andrew Padgett, bass-baritone
Online
Concert Video on Demand, May 27–Jun 10
Celebrate the flowering of spring entre dos Álamos – “between two poplars”
The evocative phrase Entre dos Álamos is from Lope de Vega’s novel Las fortunas de Diana, in which the envious river Tagus tries to separate two lovers just awakened by the arrival of the new season. It’s just one example of the magnificent music from 16th and 17th century Peru, Bolivia, and Chile that Piffaro’s virtuosic multi-instrumentalists and a stellar cast of singers will bring back to life.
The indigenous musicians of South America quickly adopted and mastered the new instruments and forms brought by Catholic colonists in the 16th century. Incorporating shawms, dulcians, and sackbuts into their own musical culture, they became proficient performers and composers in the European polyphonic style. Over the next two centuries, this musical cross-pollination produced a body of work unsurpassed in its magnificence.
Playlist: Francisco Guerrero’s Beatus vir, brought from Spain and performed in Lima Cathedral; Cachua Serrantia from the Codex Trujillo of Peru and Dime Pedro por tu vida from the Codex Zuola; Crostóbal de Belsayaga’s Magnificat, one of the first pieces of polychoral music written in South America; and more.
Support for these concerts has been provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation and The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.
