About Utrecht Early Music Festival

Sing, fight, cry, pray – Reformations

This year it has been 500 years ago since Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the church of Wittenberg. By doing that he set a revolutionary machine in motion of which the action radius reach was larger than of what we would mark as strictly religious. With some delays, a counter movement that was atleast as innovative developed: The contra formation. It led to an high-rising conflict between a culture of rational self-control and its baroque counterpart, aimed at sensory intoxication.

In musical terms, the coming Festival will spend attention on the Luther revolution and the musical implications that were a result of that. Luther himself was musically well educated and loved music passionately: He admired the Flemish polyphonist Josquien Desprez and liked to compose as well. However, a Festival flying the colours of Reformations cannot stay limited to just the early lutheranism. We are researching the revolutionary power that came from the actions and writings of Calvijn, just like Luther he was one of the great intellectuals of his time. Just like in Germany, the protestant movements in France led to bloody scenes. It was the same in England, although the context and political value was of a different nature. All these movements, fed by human emotions, tell us stories, just like 150 Psalms, about fleeing nations, unjust rulers and abuse of power.

Utrecht Early Music Festival
SING, FIGHT, CRY, PRAY – REFORMATIONS
Fr 25 aug till sun 3 sep 2017 in Utrecht
www.oudemuziek.nl