At the end of the 16th century, a new chapter began in the chronicles of Prague. Under Emperor Rudolph II, the Bohemian capital became a cosmopolitan hub of artists, musicians, scholars and alchemists. Besides Italian madrigalists, the court also attracted composers from the Franco-Flemish tradition, who made their mark on the Bohemian music scene. In this panorama of Golden Prague, a prominent place is reserved for Kryštof Harant, whose masses for five voices are an impressive synthesis of northern polyphony and southern warmth. We will also hear work by the kapellmeister to the royal court, Philippe de Monte, and contemporaries such as Luca Marenzio and Orlandus Lassus, along with rare Bohemian songs such as the anonymous Otče Buoha nebeskÉho. Cappella Mariana, the benchmark ensemble for Central European Renaissance music, is our dream guide to ‘Praga Magna’.

Programme
Kryštof Harant
Missa quinis vocibus, Psallite Domino in cythara, Qui confidunt

Luca Marenzio
Dolorosi martir

Philippe de Monte
O bone Jesu

Orlando di Lasso
Pacis amans

Anonym
Otče Buoha nebeského