XVI century motets, madrigals and villancicos by Francisco Leontaritis, Cipriano de Rore, Giaches de Wert, Juan Vásquez and others

The thematic focus of the sacred programme opening the concert is the figure of the Virgin Mary. The chosen repertoire juxtaposes Eastern and Western traditions. On one hand some of the earliest known attempts at sacred polyphony from northern East Slavic lands, spanning both the indigenous Strochnoe Penie tradition and the later, Western-influenced style of Partesnoe Penie. On the other, the Western polyphonic tradition per se: 16th-century motets and sacred villancicos.

XVI century Europe was surprisingly cosmopolitan, as evidenced by the itineraries of its illustrious artists. Just as El Greco, a native of Crete, travelled to Venice, before finally settling in Toledo, so did his compatriot before him – the composer, singer and hymnographer Francisco Leontaritis, who even earned himself the same nickname, Il Greco. Though he did not end up in Spain, he found employment in the opposite direction – the Bavarian ducal chapel in Munich, home to one of the most famous composers of the period, Orlando di Lasso.

Migrations also occurred in the heart of the continent, as Franco-Flemish musicians Cipriano de Rore and Giaches de Wert both left their homelands to work in Italian cities, Venice, Ferrara and Mantua, contributing significantly to the repertoire of the madrigal – a genre born of the fusion of Northern polyphony and Italian poetry, and one that exerted influence even on local traditions, as can be heard in the villancicos of Juan Vásquez.

Finally, traversing Europe in full from the South to its extreme northern horizons, a selection of anonymous Spanish villancicos from the Cancionero de Upsala made its way to Sweden, where it lay forgotten until its rediscovery in the early XX century, despite having been printed in Venice.

PART OF “CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS”

THE PERFORMERS

Cantanti DAI MONTI VERDI:

Hristina Traykoska, soprano
Anna Yankova, mezzo-soprano
Konstantin Beykov, countertenor
Ivaylo Donkov, tenor
Severin Vasilev, tenor, leader
Nikolay Dimov, baritone
Georgi Beykov, bass

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THE PROGRAMME

ANONYMOUS ORTHODOX PARTES AND LINEAR POLYPHONY

1. Vzbrannoy Voyevode / To thee, Champion Leader
Znamenny chant polyphony, end of XVII century
2. Dostoyno yest’ / It is truly meet
Early partes, end of XVII century
3. Slava Tebe / Glory to Thee
Demestvenny chant polyphony, end of XVII century
4. Blagovestvuyet Gavriil /The Annunciation of Gabriel
early Znamenny chant partes, end of XVII century
5. Khristos razhdayetsya /The Nativity
early partes, 1690

MARIAN MOTETS AND VILLANCICOS

Diego Ortiz (c. 1510 – c. 1576)
6. Benedicta es celorum Regina à 5
Musices liber primus, Venice, 1565
Francisco Leontaritis (1518 – 1572)
7. Ave, sanctissima Maria
Modulationum quinque vocum liber primus, Venice, 1566
Juan Vásquez (c. 1500 – c. 1560)
8. Hermosísima María
Recopilación de sonetos y villancicos, Seville, 1560
Francisco Guerrero (1528 – 1599)
9. Pastor, quien Madre Virgen á mirado
Canciones y villanescas espirituales, Venice, 1589
Anónimo
10. Alta Reyna soberana
Cancionero de Upsala, Venice, 1556

VILLANCICOS OF THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE

Juan Vásquez (c. 1500 – c. 1560)
11. Zagaleja de lo verde
12. ¿Con qué la lavaré?
13. ¿Qué sentís, corazón mío?
Recopilación de sonetos y villancicos, Seville, 1560
Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – 1553)
14. Si n’os huviera mirado
Cancionero de Upsala, Venice, 1556
Juan Vásquez (c. 1500 – c. 1560)
15. De los álamos vengo, madre
Villancicos y canciones a tres y a cuatro, Seville, 1551
Anónimo
16. Yo me soy la morenica
Cancionero de Upsala, Venice, 1556

MADRIGALS, CANZONETTAS AND VILLANELLAS

Giaches de Wert (1535 – 1596)
17. Tis pyri pyr edàmasse – Villanella Greca
Il primo libro delle canzonette villanelle a cinque voci, Venice, 1589
Mateo Flecha el Joven (c. 1530 – 1604)
18. Di dì in dì vo cangiando
Il primo libro de madrigali, Venice, 1568
Orlando di Lasso (1532 – 1594)
19. Quel rossignuol, che sí soave piagne
Libro quarto de madrigali a cinque voci, Venice, 1567
Francisco Leontaritis (1518 – 1572)
20. Ditene, o Dei del cielo
Di Cipriano et Annibale madregali a quatro voci insieme altre eccellenti autori, Venice, 1561
Giaches de Wert (1535 – 1596)
21. Se le stelle cascassero
Il primo libro delle canzonette villanelle a cinque voci, Venice, 1589
Cipriano de Rore (c. 1515-6 – 1565)
22. Da l’estremo orizzonte
Il quinto libro di madrigali a cinque voci, Venice, 1566
Giaches de Wert (1535 – 1596)
23. In qual parte si ratto – Dialogo à 7
Il settimo libro de madrigali a cinque voci, Venice, 1581

Cantanti DAI MONTI VERDI is an early music ensemble, focusing on the secular vocal music of the XVI and XVII centuries. 

 Founded in 2017, the ensemble celebrated the 450th anniversary of the birth of Claudio Monteverdi with concerts and recordings of madrigals and motets by the eminent composer and his contemporaries. Taking part in the ppIANISSIMO festival in 2019, Cantanti DAI MONTI VERDI made a foray into contemporary music by performing works of Japanese composers and premiering Somei Satoh’s madrigal Hakucho no uta commissioned by the ensemble. 

In 2022, following a complete renewal of its line-up, DAI MONTI VERDI presented madrigals by Carlo Gesualdo and Michelangelo Rossi and subsequently focused on the repertoire of the so-called oltremontani – Franco-Flemish composers active in the lands of present-day Italy, most notably the secular vocal music of Giaches de Wert. 

 In 2023, Cantanti DAI MONTI VERDI hosted an international masterclass for singers and conductors led by the internationally acclaimed French countertenor and director Jean-Sébastien Beauvais, and deepened their knowledge of historically informed performance practice with world-renowned Belgian countertenor Marnix De Cat. In the end of the same year, at the invitation of the Bulgarian National Radio the ensemble performed a concert as part of EuroRadio Christmas Day, broadcast internationally. The programme featured Italian madrigals and canzonettas, Spanish sixteenth-century villancicos, as well as early part-songs of demestvenniy and znamenniy polyphony. 

A highlight of the ensemble’s collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Sofia was the marking of the opening of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in early 2024, where the ensemble performed alongside Belgian lutenist Jurgen De bruyn. This was followed by a series of concerts dedicated to the late sixteenth-century French polyphonic chanson. The ensemble participated in a concert on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and the Order of Malta, premiering a newly composed work by Bulgarian composer Atanas Atanassov. In the autumn of the same year, the ensemble participated once more in the Sofia Baroque Arts festival, presenting music by J.S. Bach and J.H. Schein alongside David McCune, Zefira Valova and Aapo Häkkinen, among others. 

In 2025, DAI MONTI VERDI expanded its repertoire to include English-language madrigals and undertook its first national tour, performing in Pernik, Kyustendil, Svishtov, Ruse, Velingrad, Plovdiv and Balchik. The ensemble made its debut at the festivals March Music Days and Chernomorski zvutsi, as well as its first international appearance at the early music festival Les BaroQuiales in Sospel, France and participated in a workshop and concert together with Rossana Bertini as part of the XIX edition of the Sofia Baroque Arts festival. 

Each member of the ensemble is a professional musician with extensive experience in solo, chamber and choral performance across a wide range of musical styles. The founder and artistic director, Severin Vasilev, is a conductor, singer, philologist and music manager, selected for the REMArkable mentorship programme of REMA – the European early music network. 

Cantanti DAI MONTI VERDI regularly collaborates with distinguished Bulgarian early music performers such as Zefira Valova, Nikolay Stoykov and Yavor Genov, and has collaborated with international artists including Jean-Sébastien Beauvais (France), Marnix De Cat (Belgium), Jürgen De Bruyn (Belgium) and Rossana Bertini (Italy). 

The ensemble was nominated for ‘Ensemble of the Year 2023’ in the Musician of the Year poll of the Bulgarian National Radio programme Allegro Vivace.