Ensemble Irini

Giovanni Gabrieli: Post tenebras Post tenebras (spero lucem) – after darkness, I hope for light – perfectly encapsulates what this Ensemble Irini programme aims for: a return to the early days of Venetian and Byzantine baroque in an unusual, double-choir setup with brass instruments: grand, spatial and deeply spiritual. On one side of the spectrum stands Giovanni Gabrieli, master of polychoral music at the San Marco basilica in Venice. His Sacrae cantiones think in space, with choirs of voices and instruments as building blocks. On the other side sound virtuosic, contemplative chants by Konstantinos van Aghialos and Joasaph van Athos, in which time becomes music and vice versa. Post tenebras marks a new chapter in the journey of Irini Ensemble, but their unique sound remained untouched: warm, dark, polymorphic and averse to early music stereotypes. Programme: Double-choir motets by G. Gabrieli | Chants by K. van Aghialos & J. van Athos