Tribute to Josquin Desprez (a. 1450-1521) for the 500th anniversary of his death
Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae
by Josquin Desprez
Ensemble vocale Odhecaton
conductor Paolo Da Col
The Ravenna Festival returns with a new programme of Sunday liturgies, a sign of reopening after months of lockdown and isolation. An opening in the deepest sense, as well expressed by Benedict XVI: “The Christian liturgy is the liturgy of the promise fulfilled in Christ, but it is also the liturgy of hope, of the pilgrimage on its way to the transformation of the world […] [It] is not a sort of “self-manifestation” of a community; it means instead coming out of merely “being ourselves”, being closed in on ourselves […] [It] implies universality, and this universal character must enter ever anew into the awareness of all.” Liturgical music is an essential element of such awareness: the different paths unfolding from four of the city’s suggestive basilicas will introduce us to timeless, boundless beauty.
