This story originally appeared in the Holiday Arts Guide: Have an uncliché Christmas.
Celebrate the season like it’s 17th century Germany with Early Music Vancouver (EMV). For one night only in December, EMV will welcome 13 vocal soloists, a choir, a string band, cornetto and sackbut players, three theorbo players, and multiple keyboardists from around North America to recreate a Christmas vespers, or evening church service, as it might have been heard under the direction of German composer Michael Praetorius four hundred years ago.
“We present music using instruments that were current at the time that the music was composed,” explains Matthew White, Early Music Vancouver’s artistic director, seated at a harpsichord in the organization’s Fairview offices. “So if we’re doing 18th century music, we’re using either actual 18th century instruments set up in the way that they were set up in the 18th century, or we’re using copies.”
While White himself is not a player, his organization has amassed an impressive collection of harpsichords, Baroque timpani, Renaissance lutes and more, available to rent for those learning how to play. And while the early music scene will never be seen as “hip”, it’s a fascinating underground art movement of professionals, academics and hobbyists who have singlehandedly resurrected these instruments from virtual extinction. For example, last month, EMV co-presented a performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 – one of the cornerstones of classical music.
“When an academic looked at the Monteverdi vespers in the 1950s, the first thing they noticed was there were parts written for a whole bunch of instruments that nobody even knew how to play anymore,” says White. “It’s strange to think that using these old instruments creates a sense of newness, but it really does for a lot of people,” he continues. “When you hear sackbuts or cornetti for the first time [you think], ‘Wow those things sound like human voices.’”
Up next for EMV are the festive Praetorius Christmas Vespers. Where the Monteverdi vespers are “highly virtuosic” pieces of music that require professionals to create, the Praetorius vespers are, conversely, for everybody.
“The Lutheran tradition encouraged all levels of the community to participate,” says White. “So the piece is designed for there to be moments of solo brilliance from the professionals, but then it’s also designed for everybody to take part.”
Led by guest music director David Fallis of Toronto, the EMV performance will also involve the audience.
“It’s a really different type of event than going to see the Messiah or going to see even the Christmas Oratorio,” says White with a smile. “In a way, it’s a recreation, without the sermons, of a 17th century church service. It sounds boring, but it is actually quite the opposite because it’s a huge celebration.”
• Praetorius Christmas Vespers takes place Dec. 20 at the Chan Shun Concert Hall at the Chan Centre (6265 Crescent). Tickets from $17.50; EarlyMusic.bc.ca
