Jacobus Gallus: Pater noster - A High Renaissance Polyphony

This is first of exceptional series in collaboration with Slovenian Philharmonics and PPZ production. Slovenian Philharmonic Choir is one of the best European professional choirs. Every year they invited most renowned choir leaders from abroad. This particular session was conducted by award-winning director Sebastjan Vrhovnik

Jacobus Gallus (a.k.a. Jacob(us) Handl, Jacob(us) Händl, Jacob(us) Gallus; Slovene: Jakob Petelin Kranjski; between 15 April and 31 July 1550 – 18 July 1591) was a late-Renaissance composer of presumed Slovene ethnicity. Born in Carniola, which at the time was one of the Habsburg lands in the Holy Roman Empire, he lived and worked in Moravia and Bohemia during the last decade of his life.

Gallus represented the Counter-Reformation in Bohemia, mixing the polyphonic style of the High Renaissance Franco-Flemish School with the style of the Venetian School. His output was both sacred and secular, and hugely prolific: over 500 works have been attributed to him. Some are for large forces, with multiple choirs of up to 24 independent parts. Tenor voice part of Gallus' Ecce quomodo moritur iustus, published in his Opus Musicum II

His most notable work is the six-part Opus musicum, 1587, a collection of 374 motets that would eventually cover the liturgical needs of the entire ecclesiastical year. The motets were printed in Prague printing house Jiří Nigrin, which also published 16 of his 20 extant masses. The motet O magnum mysterium comes from the first volume (printed in 1586) which covers the period from the first Sunday of Advent to the Septuagesima. His motets show evidence of influence by the Venetian polychoral style, with their use of the coro spezzato technique.

Pater noster : Opus musicum 69

PATER noster, qui es in cœlis;
sanctificetur nomen tuum:
Adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,

sicut in cœlo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.

Quia tuum est regnum, et potestas, et Gloria, in saecula. Amen.


The Slovenian Philharmonic Choir was established as a professional choir in 1991. Initially known as the Slovenian Chamber Choir, it has been operating within the framework of the Slovenian Philharmonic since 1998. The choir was led by Dr Mirko Cuderman from its inception until the autumn of 2009. In the 2009/10 season, the leadership was taken over by conductors Martina Batič and Steffen Schreyer, with the latter serving as the chief conductor until the end of the 2011/12 season. In the 2012/13 season, Martina Batič took over the artistic leadership in its entirety, overseeing the choir’s activities until the end of 2017. In 2018, this function was performed by Gregor Klančič, 2019, Borut Smrekar and 2020 Gregor Klančič.

https://www.filharmonija.si/en/


Production:

TAJUS and PPZ production
asistenti: Dan Ažman, Gal Nagode, Jakob Zevnik
light design: Gal Nagode
crane operator: Matej Zagorc
dolly grip: Gal Nagode
production lead and director of photography: Juš Hrastnik
sound: Kloptec produkcija
balance engineer: Iztok Zupan
mastering: Iztok Zupan
script: Primož Zevnik
assisent director: Juš Hrastnik
editor and director: Primož Zevnik
recorded in st. Francis church in Ljubljana in last days of August 2020

Recording set:

Jože Plečnik's unconventional design for the Church of St. Francis (Cerkev sv. Frančiška), constructed between 1925 and 1927, is derived from his plans for the Church of the Sacred Heart in Prague, built-in 1922. The central part of the church is covered with a gently sloping roof topped with a belfry added in 1931. The belfry has a distinctive shape dominated by two rows of pillars in its upper two storeys and a conic roof sloping up steeply.

The main entrance is enhanced by a monumental colonnade with an open tympanum. The inside of the church is unusual. Its central space is framed by a row of monumental brick columns, on the outer side of which, next to the walls, there is enough space to walk all the way around the central part of the church. The main altar is positioned right next to the colonnade, at a distance from the church wall behind it. It is flanked by side altars, which are also positioned next to the rows of columns.

Later, when the church was already in use, Plečnik occasionally added new elements to it. He furnished it with chandeliers and, after World War II, decorated the church's Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrow, baptistery and sacristy.