The program is built around a range of modern interpretations and possibilities for the idea of the madrigal. In his In Dir, Stefano Gervasoni sets the tightly-constructed koan-like texts of medieval German mystic Angelus Silesius. Gervasoni uses the enigmatic texts as inspirations for a distinctive kind of text-painting that informs the structure of each movement. Salvatore Sciarrino’s L’alibi della parola leverages the composer’s unique language of skitters and sighs to create a space of wonder – of special interest is the pulsing of the second movement’s quasar. My Peccavi fateor is based on a few lines of music from an eponymous work by Michael Praetorius, and explores every possible combination of the six voices of our ensemble. Peter Ablinger’s Studien nach der Natur is a collection of ten canons, each of which is a clever imitation of the sounds of everyday life. Finally, Elliott Carter’s Mad Regales brings the composer’s vital rhythmic impetus to bear on a set of witty and strange texts by John Ashbery.
- Stefano Gervasoni – In Dir (2003-2004)
- Salvatore Sciarrino – L’alibi della parola
- Jeffrey Gavett – Peccavi fateor (2015) (US Premiere)
- Peter Ablinger – Studien nach der Natur (1997, 2002)
- Elliott Carter – Mad Regales (2007)
Ekmeles personnel for concert
- Jane Sheldon, soprano
- Rachel Calloway, mezzo soprano
- Tim Keeler, countertenor
- Tomas Cruz, tenor
- Jeffrey Gavett, baritone
- Steven Hrycelak, bass