Giovanna Baviera, Viola da Gamba & Voice
Anna Danilevskaia, Viola da Gamba
Claire Piganiol, Harp
Johanna Bartz, Renaissance Traverso & Direction

a garden of black flowers

Love and melancholy in late 16th century diminutions, motets and madrigals by Palestrina, Bovicelli, Bassano et al.

The image of the garden as a place of retreat runs throughout the centuries: In the Song of Songs, it is a symbol of the beauty of the beloved and the union of two lovers; in the New Testament, Jesus retreats to the Garden of Gethsemane in dark foreboding before his imprisonment; in medieval and Renaissance mythology, Mary is often compared to a hortus conclusus, a closed garden. Ultimately it stands for the memory of the Garden of Eden and the lost paradise.

The composers of the 16th century perhaps had the geometric gardens of their time in mind when they created the polyphonic structures of their music – these motets, chansons and madrigals were profoundly and personally enriched by musicians back then, while embellishing this music. The idealized image of a secluded garden stands for the last refuge of genuine expression of feeling - real longing, the bliss of true love or heartfelt pain over its loss could not simply be expressed, or even lived out in the strict social order of the time, but were hidden behind the veil of melancholy. As in Claudin de Sermisy’s iconic chanson “Au joli bois” the lyrical I says: “En ung jardin remply de noires flours / De mes deux yeulx feray larmes et plours.” (“In a garden filled with black flowers, tears over tears flow from my eyes.”) Harp, two Viola da gambas and Renaissance traverso unfold a virtuoso, yet intimate and colourful sound picture of a late renaissance musical garden.