CAPPELLA PRATENSIS | BIOGRAPHY
Stratton Bull (artistic director)
Artistic vision and development
Josquin des Prez
Cappella Pratensis – literally ‘Cappella des prés’ – is a vocal ensemble that champions the music of Josquin des Prez and his contemporaries. The ensemble is specialised in the polyphonic masterpieces of the 15th and 16th centuries, with particular attention to historical performance practice and the repertoire of the Low Countries, in programs with inventive and original interpretations based on scholarly research and artistic insight.
Authenticity
As in the time of Josquin des Prez, the members of Cappella Pratensis perform from a central music stand, singing from the original mensural notation scored in a large choirbook. This approach, together with attention to the linguistic origin of the compositions and the modal system on which it is based, offers a unique perspective on the repertoire.
Specialisation
The ensemble is specialised in the sacred polyphony of the Early and High Renaissance, with an accent on the Franco-Flemish polyphony of the period of Josquin des Prez (1450/55-1520) but also comprising the previous (Ciconia and Dufay, from ca. 1380) and succeeding generations (to ca. 1600, including Gombert and Willaert).
Positioning
Artistic direction
In 2003-2004 Bart Demuyt took Cappella Pratensis through an intensive period of reorientation, following the initial period under Rebecca Stewart from 1987 to 2002. Stratton Bull is the present artistic director of the ensemble, a position he assumed in 2008 after four years of fruitful collaboration as artistic coördinator together with Peter Van Heyghen. Cappella Pratensis draws on the strength and specialisms of the individual singers, with the result that each singer can potentially lead the group. Each project is led by a singer with specific insight and knowledge of a particular repertoire.
International
Besides regular appearances at concert venues in the Netherlands and Belgium, Cappella Pratensis performs at leading international festivals. Tours have taken the group to the United States (including a week in residence at Harvard University), Canada and Japan. The ensemble has appeared in early music festivals in Utrecht, York, Regensburg, Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, Knechtsteden and Brežice. Cappella Pratensis has also made a series of CD recordings that have met with critical acclaim and distinctions from the press (including the Diapason d’Or and the Prix Choc). From 2005 to 2007, the group was ensemble-in-residence at the Fondation Royaumont (France). In October 2008, the Cappella toured the United States, giving concerts and workshops at Indiana University (Bloominton IN), Princeton University (Princeton NJ), Williams College (Williamstown MA) and Penn State University (State College PA). This tour was supplemented by lecture-demonstrations presented by Prof. Jennifer Bloxam (Williams College).
Education
Cappella Pratensis continues to make its mark in the music world – both among professionals and amateurs – through masterclasses, collaboration with institutions, organising its own summer course (given since 2004 in the French Pyrenees) and training young singers within the group itself. As an expertise-centre, Cappella Pratensis passes on insights into vocal polyphony and performance from original notation. New vocal ensembles have been born from the intensive work with students in educational settings. In 2009 the Cappella Pratensis summer course will take place in Antwerp as part of the Flanders Festival (Laus Polyphoniae). In collaboration with the Alamire Foundation (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) the ensemble is now developing a web resource for all things polyphonic, including original music sources, scholarly articles, discussion forums and instruction on performance practice: the Polyphonic Academy.
New music
As part of the Dutch Year of Religious Heritage in 2008, Cappella Pratensis commissioned a complete polyphonic mass (Missa Unitatis) by the British composer Antony Pitts. The premiere took place in ’s-Hertogenbosch in November 2008. The ordinary of the mass was alternated with compositions drawn from the 16th-century choirbooks held in the archives of the Illustre Lieve Vrouwe Broederschap, a Marian confraternity based in this Brabant city since the 14th century. This initiative represents a contribution to tomorrow’s religious heritage.
Musicological foundation
Cappella Pratensis consults widely in the preparation of its programmes and the formulation of its artistic vision. Musicologists including Bonnie Blackburn, M. Jennifer Bloxam, Véronique Roelvink and Katelijne Schiltz join active players in the musical and cultural world, such as Bart Demuyt and Geurt Grosveld, to provide a broad and secure base for the development of the group’s artistic vision.
This summer, for the fifth year running, Cappella Pratensis presents a weeklong polyphony course, and to celebrate this first milestone we're turning to our "core business", the brilliant repertoire of Josquin des Prez (mass movements, motets, chansons...). As in other years, we'll be working in various formations, from full choir to smaller ensembles and one-on-a-part scoring. And as always, all music will be sung from the original mensural notation, both from partbooks and from a choirbook placed on a large central music stand.
