Date: 25 September 2008

Time: 17.00 h (subject to change due to incomplete examination committee so far)

Place: Pauluskerk Tilburg (little white church in the towncenter)

Admission:  free

After years of hard working Marsja Mudde will finally obtain her Bachelor of Music in Early Vocal Ensemble Music. All people interested are very much invited to attend her public Graduation Concert which at the same time will be her audition for the Master of Music.

Marsja and her ensemble, all members of Ensemble Cantus Modalis, will perform music from early Middle Ages until late Baroque in vocal and vocal-instrumental combinations from 1 up to 7 voices. The public will be treated on chant and Italian laude, Hildegard von Bingen, early and later motets in several languages, as well as a Bach-chorale.

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The theme of the concert is the Office of Archangel St.Michael (29 September is his Feast-day). The name of St.Michael means as much as "who is like God", and he is the angel of war and peace, the dragonfighter, but also the patron saint of chivalry, police, army and of hospitals. In some early Christian cultures (e.g. Gnostics), but also in the Jehovah’s Witness Belief, St.Michael and Jesus are identical. The only difference between them would be that they are the heavenly and the earthly appearance, respectively.

In the Christian and Jewish literature, St.Michael is the angel (or prince, which is one of the nine orders of angels) Daniel sees in his vision. The angel at the carriage that the prophet Eliah saw, supposedly also is St.Michael. And in the Book of Revelation, St.John describes St.Michael as the angel who fights Satan and his fallen angels and the Dragon. These stories are very imaginative and therefore St.Michael is a popular subject in art. On paintings, St.Michael often holds a scale weighing the souls of the good and the bad, with an angel and a tiny devil-figure trying to influence the result. Moreover, St.Michael often carries a sword, and red clothes. Sometimes a dragon completes the picture.

Already in the early Middle Ages, St.Michael was an important saint, and many churches and chapels were named after him, e.g. a now lost basilica close to Rome. It is therefore no surprise that most chant manuscripts have an office or a proper for St.Michael. Later on, he was a grateful subject for polyphonic compositions. In the 18^th century, St.Michael became less important in the Roman Catholic Church, but in the Orthodox Churches, and therefore in orthodox music, he is still important. An icon of St.Michael is always included in the so-called iconostase, the 'wall' between the church and the choir in Greek orthodox churches.

The programme for this graduation concert consists of music for the office of the feast of St.Michael, from the vespers at the evening before September 29 until the 2nd vespers at the feastday itself. This singers and players, all members of ensemble Cantus Modalis, will perform chant, organum, Hildegard von Bingen, Italian laude, polyphonic motets from e.g. Dufay, Palestrina, Isaac, Dunstaple and Lassus, and part of the Cantata "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (BWV19) from Bach, which was also written for 'Michelmas'.

Ensemble:

Marsja Mudde (soprano, leader), Marijke Meerwijk (soprano), Rebecca Stewart (alto), Ivo Berg (recorder, tenor), Ronald Kuilman (tenor), Milo Machover (traverso, tenor), Martin Erhardt (portative organ, viola da gamba, recorder, bass), and Ton Debets (bass).