Collegium 1704 (Janáček Brno 2026)

ABOUT

The choir loft of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Old Brno is closely connected with the childhood and youth of Leoš Janáček. He sang there regularly as a chorister and later served as choirmaster. His teacher, choirmaster and head of the foundation of the Augustinian abbey, Pavel Křížkovský, was a great advocate of the so-called Cecilian movement – a reform of church music aiming to cleanse it of Classicist and especially Romantic layers, revive Gregorian chant, perform works from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and compose music close to the so-called Palestrina style. The young Leoš Janáček shared the same passion for this movement. It is therefore not surprising that both Křížkovský and later Janáček introduced at the Old Brno choir loft not only contemporary representatives of Cecilianism, but also composers such as Orlando di Lasso and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Church modes also influenced Janáček’s musical thinking, while Palestrina, as a kind of archetype of church music, shaped the work of Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Italian composer and organist Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525?–1594) is regarded as the leading figure of Renaissance music and the so-called Roman School. He worked at St Peter’s Basilica and other Roman churches. Missa brevis was first published in 1570 in his Third Book of Masses and remains one of the most frequently performed works of Palestrina’s polyphonic repertoire.

Priest, composer, choirmaster and organist Pavel Křížkovský (1820–1885) devoted his life to the Old Brno Augustinian abbey. He composed not only sacred music but also secular works, especially male choirs. His sacred compositions often resounded in the Old Brno basilica even later, during Janáček’s time as choirmaster. His Graduale in Dominica Resurrectionis was composed in 1878.

Sacred works occupy only a marginal place in the oeuvre of Leoš Janáček (1854–1928), mostly relating to his youth. The majority of them were written in the spirit of the Cecilian reform, including Exaudi Deus II, composed as a student assignment at the Prague Organ School in 1875.

Magnificat is the first major choral work Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) composed after being appointed cantor at St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig in the spring of 1723. The Latin text, taken from the Gospel of Luke, recounts the visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. The work was first performed at Christmas 1723, supplemented with several Christmas hymns. Ten years later, Bach revised the work, transposed it into another key, and omitted the Christmas additions, making it suitable for other occasions. Today, Magnificat is one of Bach’s most popular works.

Text: Jiří Zahrádka

Programme

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Missa brevis

Pavel Křížkovský: Graduale in Dominica Resurrectionis

Leoš Janáček: Exaudi Deus, JW II/4

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat, BWV 243

Performers

Conductor: Václav Luks

Collegium 1704