The AGAVE
Eternity of love
Performers
Zachary Wilder, tenor
Oleguer Aymamí, cello
Josep Maria Martí Duran, lute, guitar and conducting
Programme
Works by F. Cavalli, G. Frescobaldi, C. Monteverdi, D. Obizzi, G. Kapsberger, G. Rovetta, S. de Murcia, G. Legrenzi and B. Strozzi. Strozzi.
Singing of love has been and continues to be a common constant in all cultures: some sing of unrequited love, others explain the reaction to that first glance, and how it is fixed in the memory and mixed in dreams, in sighs and longings for a reunion that so often will not happen; or the rejection that so many have experienced and that provokes a desperation that leads to madness beyond measure. In early 17th century Italy there was a movement dedicated to trying to squeeze the most out of human emotions through poetry and music. They believed that the great Greek orators were capable of conveying them like no other, and they used music to do so. This ideal revolutionised the history of music and the polyphonic style, where madrigals were sung with a text for several different voices, was abandoned in favour of a text with a melody for a single singer and accompaniment. A Eternità de amore presents a whole series of songs of love and heartbreak, of rapture and contemplation, of joy and sadness, in which a string of characters narrate their adventures and misfortunes that will surely resonate with all of us, as many of us have experienced them.