Midsummer is the season of festivals, enjoying music under the open sky. However, the weather gods are not on the same wavelength: wind and rain spoil the fun.
Indoors, however, there is also plenty to experience and discover. Place to be: the Sint-Augustinuskerk, a baroque jewel in the heart of Antwerpen and transformed into a modern concert hall. AMUZ, an international music centre and home of the Festival van Vlaanderen Antwerpen, Laus Polyphoniae. At AMUZ you will find the right place in the coming days. The programming of Laus Polyphoniae, the well-known ten-day festival for early music, which regularly concludes the summer, is ready for you.
From 18 to 27 Aug. you can enjoy fine selections of concerts, lectures and family performances around the theme 'Antwerpen, Townscape – Soundscape' and dedicated to Antwerp music prints. Together with the Huelgas Ensemble, Collegium Vocale Gent, the Portuguese Cupertinos or the French soprano Perrine Devillers, old scores are perused. The Belgian Utopia looks at image motets, a unique print with beautiful engravings that also contain music. Thanks to composition commissions for young composers, the historical motets also receive a contemporary counterpart.
You will discover how the city and the music in churches and city palaces sounded vocally and instrumentally in the 15th and 16th centuries. You discover the fascinating international metropolis that Antwerpen was then, with all the economic and musical activity that came with it.
Johannes Ockeghem, Jacobus Barbireau, Jacob Obrecht, Andreas Pevernage, Cornelius Verdonck, Petrus Philips… they are all masters of polyphony that can be linked to Antwerpen. Their music is performed by the best international ensembles, including Blue Heron, Capella Pratensis ß I Fideli, Le Miroir de Musique and Stile Antico. The Belgian Graindelavoix presents with Wonderjaren and Hongerjaren a diptych on the heyday and swan song of polyphony in Antwerpen.
'Antwerpen. Townscape – Soundscape' will not only be a vocal festival, but also an instrumental event. The Antwerp Liedboek receives a topical comic reinterpretation in the hands of the music theatre collective Les Âmes Perdues. Paul O'Dette, Chordophony, Zefiro Torna and Jean Rondeau bring their finest work for lute.
For those who want to learn more about Antwerp's (musical) history, there are, as usual, engaging lectures and courses.