Saturday, July 15, 2023 | 8:00 pm | Sint-Catharinakerk, Kruisbroedershof 4 ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Sunday, July 16, 2023 | 3:00 pm | klooster Sint Agatha, Kloosterlaan 24 Sint Agatha
(ticket sales start around May 1)
The Order of the Crosiers was founded in 1210 in Huy near Liège. In the Low Countries, the Crosiers had many monasteries, of which those in Maastricht and Ter Apel are the best preserved. At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, Johannes van Deventer was part of the Crosier community in Sint Agatha. Some very intact and beautifully decorated choirbooks by his hand have been preserved. The absolute masterpiece of the collection, made around 1512, is known as the Graduale by Johannes van Deventer.
What is special is that, after more than five centuries, the books of Johannes van Deventer are still in the same monastery where they were made. It is preserved by Erfgoedcentrum Nederlands Kloosterleven, located in the monastery of Sint Agatha, which is still inhabited by a small but active Crosier community.
Cappella Pratensis brought the Erfgoedcentrum into contact with the Alamire Foundation in Leuven (B) and the KBR Royal Library in Brussels. They ensured that the Graduale was expertly digitized and published online, making it safe and accessible for future generations worldwide.
Now it is time to bring the music of the Graduale Johannes van Deventer back to life, in places where the Crosiers have done their pious work for centuries. Of course in the Sint Agatha monastery, but also in the former Croisiers church in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Catharinakerk. The program is composed of Gregorian chant from the Graduale, enriched with polyphonic improvisations and interspersed with polyphonic music from Brabant sources from the same period.
Stratton Bull, Tim Braithwaite, Andrew Hallock | superior
Lior Leibovici | countertenor
Grantley McDonald | bassus
Artistic director: Stratton Bull
