Celebrating the 500th anniversary of Josquin des Prez's death with a series of participatory events.
September 7, 2021–December 7, 2021
Conductor Harold Rosenbaum cordially invites you to commemorate the legacy of Josquin des Prez by participating in the complete catalog of his works*.
Full details about the repertoire
The Franco-Flemish composer Josquin des Prez stands as a towering figure within Western music. His contemporaries considered him the greatest composer of his time. He composed instrumental and vocal, sacred and secular, Latin and vernacular works. Martin Luther himself called Josquin “the master of notes.” He was born in France but worked in the courts of Milan, Ferrara, and even the Vatican. He was the first composer to have a book of printed music dedicated to a single composer. Josquin also may very well have been the first “textbook” composer; fourteen music treatises during the 1500s included examples of his music, some even complete works, all of which serve as exemplars of compositional techniques and methods. His reputation? Internationally renown in his lifetime and posthumously. His works? Revered, emulated, and studied.
In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Josquin’s death, Dr. Harold Rosenbaum has chosen to bring the complete choral output of the composer to you, but not in the way you might think. Instead of attending a series of concerts, you participate in the music making by singing and playing. You make this monumental project possible in the immaculate acoustic space of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.
When: 14 Tuesday evenings starting September 7 and finishing December 7, 2021
Where: Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, 164 West 100th Street (at Amsterdam Avenue), Manhattan
Tickets: $10 per evening (7 pm–8:30 pm)
Music at the door: $8; Download PDFs for free here.
Subscribe to 7 or more and save 20%
Subscribe to all 14 and save 25%
Tickets will go on sale June 28, 2021
Audience attendees also welcome
Covid-19 precautions:
Necessary precautions will be made to ensure the saftely of all participants, depending on the most recent data. Proof of vaccinnation or a recent negative COVID test will be required. Check back here closer to the opening date for more up-to-date information.
Performance information:
All performances will be at pitch 440.
Instruments:
– Bowed or plucked strings
– Early winds and early brass
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Many thanks to the following for their assistance with this project:
Alexander Blachly – scores/editions
William Kempster – scores
Pastor Heidi Neumark – location
Vincent Rone – program description and notes
Sig Rosen – scores
Richard Sherr – advisor
* The difficulties in compiling a works list for Josquin cannot be overstated. Because of his immense prestige in the early sixteenth century, many scribes and publishers did not resist the temptation of attributing anonymous or otherwise spurious works to Josquin. (Source)
"The authenticity of many of the works over the centuries has been disputed on stylistic grounds or because of problems with sources, or both. After consulting with leading Josquin experts, I have decided that every work presented in our Josquin 2021 project is either by the master himself, or is virtually certain to be his." — Harold Rosenbaum