The FCCdM organizes a new professionalization course dedicated to vocal music. In this first edition, the selected students will work under the direction of the choral conductor Marco García de Paz on the program “Ritual, Passione/Tenebrae“, dedicated to the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae by Tomás Luis de Victoria.

The FCCdM’s new project is born to create a purely vocal group for the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music, under the direction of prestigious conductors in the world of a cappella vocal music.

This course in residence is aligned with the experimentation around new proposals for the reinterpretation of early music with historical criteria. The musical reinterpretation combines praxis, musicological, and ethnomusicological criteria recreated based on European practical and theoretical-documentary sources. Through an open teaching method adapted to the needs of each participant to promote entrepreneurship and reinforce the artistic discourse of the performers. The activity has a totally practical aspect with an innovative pedagogical result and aims to provide all participants with new musical experiences to facilitate their access to the professional world. Its inaugural project will revolve around the music of Tomás Luís de Victoria, with a special focus on his masterpiece, the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae (Responsory of Darkness).

Performers, critics, historians, and lovers of Renaissance sacred music have praised and recognized the importance and quality of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae. Even the great musicologist Samuel Rubio defined his eighteen responsories as “a veritable tableau of the passion of Christ”.

This masterpiece is composed with a deep sensitivity to the passion and dark atmosphere of Holy Week. The various compositions reflect the emotional and spiritual intensity of this liturgical period, capturing both the solemnity and tragedy of the crucifixion and the hope and redemption associated with the resurrection. Victoria uses harmonies and musical textures to convey a wide range of emotions, from anguish and pain to serenity and hope, creating a deeply moving musical experience. We hope this selection will captivate you to the point where you feel it transcends time and space.

The deadline for receipt of applications from interested parties is 1 April 2024 (inclusive).

Scheduled Activities

19-25 July: Specific training at the Early Music Course Morella, Castellón
5 September: Concert at the Renaixement Festival, Valencia
April 2025: Concert at the Festival Músiques Religioses del Món, Valencia

For more information, visit www.academiacdm.es