The Agony of Judith
Dialogos
26 April 2006, Purcell Room, 7.45pm
The South Bank Centre welcomes the universally acclaimed Dialogos to the Purcell Room on 26 April. Recognised as one of the best and most original medieval music ensembles to emerge in this generation, Dialogos performs The Agony of Judith. The performance retells the biblical story of Judith and Holofornes through vivid and dramatic poetry from Venetian and Croatian texts and music from Beneventan and Glagolitic sources.
The Agony of Judith
Dialogos
26 April 2006, Purcell Room, 7.45pm
The South Bank Centre welcomes the universally acclaimed Dialogos to the Purcell Room on 26 April. Recognised as one of the best and most original medieval music ensembles to emerge in this generation, Dialogos performs The Agony of Judith. The performance retells the biblical story of Judith and Holofornes through vivid and dramatic poetry from Venetian and Croatian texts and music from Beneventan and Glagolitic sources.
The text of Judith survives without music, but its metrical structure corresponds to archaic Glagolitic melodies used for storytelling in medieval Dalmatia. Dialogos' Katarina Livljanic undertook extensive research in putting this programme together, which involved the study of the most archaic layers of Glagolitic chant. This liturgical repertoire, though part of the Roman rite, was sung in the vernacular amongst circles of clergymen who didn't speak Latin and is mentioned as early as the 11th century. These traditions survive up to the present day, having been passed on orally, along the Croatian coast, on the Dalmatian islands and the Istrian peninsula.
In this fascinating musical monodrama, Judith and Holofornes are represented by a female voice, playing several roles and using a wide spectrum of vocal nuances, a fiddle and a lirica (traditional Croatian stringed instrument). The vocals are provided by Katarina Livljanic and Albrecht Maurer plays the strings.
Wednesday 26 April, Purcell Room, 7.45pm
South Bank Centre
London SE1
Dialogos:
Katarina Livljanic voice
Albrecht Maurer lirica, fiddle
The Agony of Judith (performed with English surtitles)
Tickets: L9 - L15
Box office: 08703 800 400 or book on-line: www.rfh.org.uk
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