Ensemble Irini

Dufay - Chrysaphes - Plousiadenos

“Any door has two sides (…) likewise I, gatekeeper of the celestial palace, examine the East and the West at the same time.” Janus Two-Faced God, Ovide, Les Fastes

Through the monumental works of Dufay and his Byzantine contemporaries Chrysaphes and Plousiadenos, J A N U A takes you on a discovery of a unique period, as short as it is unknown: the time of the last attempt to unite East and West. in the fifteenth century.

The voices of the Irini Ensemble merge for the first time with sackbuts and medieval trumpets. We invite you to discover the musical treasures resulting from this explosion of life and unparalleled creativity which saw artists and thinkers from both shores of the Mediterranea join forces in the hope of averting the downfall of a civilization.

Cast

Irini Ensemble
Lila Hajosi - conductor 
Eulalia Fantova - Clémence Faber - mezzo 
Julie Azoulay - Lauriane Le Prev - contralto 
Benoît-Joseph Meier - Olivier Merlin - tenor 
Jean-Marc Vié - Sébastien Brohier - bass 
Catherine Motuz - Sandie Griot - medieval trumpets / sackbut

Programme

-1 hour of music without intermission-

Composers: Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474); Janus Plousiadenos (1429-1500); Manuel Doukas Chrysaphes (1440-1463)

Apostolo glorioso, Dufay, isorhythmic motet dedicated to Pandolfo Malatesta, Dufay's patron, 3 min

O gemma lux, Dufay, isorhythmic motet dedicated to the protection of a trip to the Peloponnese, 5 min

Vasilissa ergo gaude, isorhythmic motet for the marriage of Cleophe Malatesta to the son of the Byzantine Emperor, 3 min

Potirion sotiriou (I will take the cup of salvation) Mode III, Orthodox wedding ceremony, Simono Petra Monastery, 1 min

Dogmatic Theotokion, Mode I plagal, Orthodox wedding recession, 3 min

Ecclesiae militantis, Dufay, motet dedicated to Pope Eugene IV, initiator of the reunification of the two churches, 5 min

Trisagion, Byzantine Divine Liturgy, 7 min

Canon for the Council of Florence, Janus Plousiadenos, 4 min

Nuper rosarum flores, Dufay, isorhythmic motet for the consecration of the Duomo of Florence, dedicated to Eugene IV, initiator of the reunification of the two churches, 6 min

Salve flos tuscae, Dufay, isorhythmic motet dedicated to the City of Florence, 5 min

Mirandas parit, Dufay, motet dedicated to the city of Florence, 4 min

Lamentation over the fall of Constantinople, Manuel Doukas Chrysaphes, 10 min

Lamentatio Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Dufay, on the fall of Constantinople, 5 min