denny Schools Periods & Styles book

Two ensembles originating in Flanders, the Capilla Flamenca and Het Collectief, joined artistic forces to present a unique performance. The music world offers probably no greater contrast between two ensembles, and yet the groups have come up with a thematic common denominator: the zodiac. Het Collectief discovered 'Tierkeis' by Karlheinz Stockhausen, a work inspired by signs of the zodiac and consisting of twelve short, concentrated melodies, supported by simple chords. Each melody illustrates the specific characteristics of a particular sign. The original version of this work composed in 1974 consisted of twelve music boxes each playing these characteristic tunes. Over the years, a number of chamber-music versions grew out of this material. In this programme, the work will be given additional colour by singers and by players of both modern and old instruments. The work is marked both by its uncomplicated harmoniousness and the radical avant-garde quality that we have come to expect from Stockhausen. Capilla Flamenca's celebrated 'Zodiac' programme was there to bring both ensembles together. In the fourteenth century, the Ars Nova emerged from France to sweep through Europe. This new art (of living) broke with the stiff and ponderous ideas from the past (Ars Antiqua). The shape of Capilla Flamenca's 'Zodiac' programme was originally inspired by the splendid depictions of the signs of the zodiac that Duke Jean de Berry ordered from the Brothers Limburg. In 12 x 12, the ...