Mille regretz is an intimate farewell song to a loved one: one of the most famous compositions by Josquin Desprez. The song is sung, followed by the beautiful arrangement of Luys de Narvaez by guitar solo.

In Absalon fili mi by Josquin Desprez or Pierre de la Rue – the origin is not entirely certain – David mourns his son Absalom: a very moving story about unconditional love and mourning. The sorrow for his dead son Absalom is palpable in every note.

Composer and guitarist Rijndert van Woudenberg mixes Eastern and Western elements. For Hollands Collectief he wrote You cannot travel within and stand still without. The singers sing and drum at the same time, like Eastern troubadours who want to tell their story. Later the voices mingle with crystal glasses, a magical effect…

A moment of rest is the beautiful Signum magnum & Beatam by Hans Leenders. Elements of Gregorian chant, warm timbres and imitation techniques make Leenders’ music very pleasant and balanced. Old polyphony forms a synthesis with the Catholic incense of late-romantic French music.

Then the singers spread out in the space for Mise-en-scène by Daan Manneke. A singing voice sounds from every corner of the hall. They thus represent islands (Archipel). Slowly the islands drift towards each other, meet in both harmony and contrast, sometimes speaking a different language, like new cultures that meet each other. The guitar is the rock in the surf, accompanies the voices and is also a solo instrument.

Then the electric guitar sounds in Lux Aeterna by Aart Strootman. It seems like a human voice… until the instrument develops into the recognizable sound of the electric guitar. The voices have to participate, imitate guitar sounds and the guitar imitates the voices, until at the end of the piece they are only recognizable as the ancient medium of the story: Lux Aeterna.

The programme concludes with the premiere of Three songs on poems by Rabindranath Tagore, opus 130 (2024) by Middelburg organist and composer Margaretha Christina de Jong

These three compositions for choir a capella are based on three poems by the Bengali poet and mystic Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) from his collection Gitanjali (Song Offerings). The music is central to these texts and especially singing as a mystical experience. In the compositions, which are written in French style, the four vocal parts are equal and an effort has been made to carry through the themes in all voices. The music follows the texts and expresses them visually. Harmonies, dissonances, subdued and exuberant atmospheres alternate

Programme

1. koor a capella

• Josquin Desprez (1450-1521) – Mille regretz
• Luys de Narvaez (ca. 1500-ca. 1560) – Mille regretz
• Josquin Desprez (c.1450-1521) of Pierre de la Rue (1452-1518) | Absalon fili mi

2. koor, gitaar en kristallen glazen

• Rijndert van Woudenberg (1967) – You can’t travel within and stand still without (2020 | geschreven voor Hollands Collectief) 

3. gitaar solo

• Augustin Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944) – La Catedral
  • Andante religioso
  • Allegro solemne

4. koor a capella

• Hans Leenders  (*1965) – Signum magnum & Beatam (2020)

5. koor en gitaar

• Daan Manneke (*1939) – Mise-en-scène  (2019)

6. koor en elektrische gitaar

• Aart Strootman (*1987) – Lux Aeterna  (2021 | geschreven voor Hollands Collectief) 

7. koor a capella

• PREMIÈRE: Margaretha Christina de Jong (*1961) – Three songs on poems by Rabindranath Tagore, opus 130 (2024 | geschreven voor Hollands Collectief)
  • I am here to sing thee songs
  • When thou commandest me to sing
  • Let all the strains of joy mingle in my last song