Spem in Alium – Holland Festival

Japanese choreographer Saburo Teshigawara brilliantly translates classical music into dance, drawing on elements of butoh and ballet, among other influences. Together with three dancers from KARAS, he enters into dialogue with the forty singers of Vox Luminis XL, who perform English choral works from the 16th to the 20th century. With music by, among others, the British composer Edward Elgar.

Teshigawara is renowned for his masterful ability to transform the classical repertoire into dance, with meticulous attention to precision, concentration, and stillness. Since 2004, Vox Luminis has earned international acclaim for its luminous, transparent sound. Under the direction of founder Lionel Meunier, the ensemble combines soloistic virtuosity with a refined collective blend. Its repertoire focuses on English, Italian, and German music from the 17th and early 18th centuries.

The combination of vocal richness and restrained choreography creates an intense, sensorial experience in which sound, movement, and space amplify one another. This encounter between early music and contemporary dance promises a performance that is both striking and exceptionally beautiful.

Read the interview with Saburo Teshigawara and Lionel Meunier.

For full programme and lyrics, click below.

Song lyrics

Edward Elgar

Spem in alium

Spem in alium nunquam habui

Praeter in te, Deus Israel

Qui irasceris et propitius eris

et omnia peccata hominum

in tribulatione dimittis

Domine Deus,

Creator caeli et terrae

respice humilitatem nostr

am.

Edward Elgar

They are at rest

We may not stir the heav'n of their repose

By rude invoking voice, or prayer addrest

In waywardness to those

Who in the mountain grots of Eden lie

And hear the fourfold river as it murmurs by

And soothing sounds

Blending with the neighb'ring waters as they glide;

Posted along the haunted garden's bounds

Angelic forms abide

Echoing, as words of watch, o'er lawn and grove

The verses of that hymn which Seraphs chant above

The are at rest

Thomas Morley

The First Dirge Anthem

4.14

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

5.15

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall see God: whom I shall see for myself, and not another. mine eyes shall behold, and not another.

6.16

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.

The Second Dirge Anthem

7.19

Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.

8.20

In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased? Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.

9.21

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee.

The Third Dirge Anthem

11.17

I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, from henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours. Amen.

vertaling: BOZAR

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Credits

performance KARAS dance Saburo Teshigawara, Rihoko Sato, Javier Ara Sauco, Dario Minoia vocal ensemble Vox Luminis XL sopraan Victoria Cassano, Marta Muranyi, Maëlys Robinne, Clara Steuerwald, Erika Tandiono, Zsuzsi Tóth, Baïba Urka, Līga Zīriņa alt Brice Claviez-Homberg, Sophia Faltas, Andrew Hallock, Barnabás Hegyi, Jan Kullmann, Ariane Le Fournis, Michaela Riener, Korneel Van Neste tenor Adriaan De Koster, Philippe Froeliger, Raphael Höhn, Thomas Köll, Mirko Ludwig, João Moreira, Lisandro Nesis, Florian Sievers bariton Vincent Berger, Olivier Berten, Robert Buckland, Vincent De Soomer, Iason Marmaras, Lionel Meunier, Lóránt Najbauer, Pēteris Vaickovskis Geoffroy Buffière, Guglielmo Buonsanti, Joel Frederiksen, Zigmārs Grasis, Matthias Lutze, Pieter Stas, Sönke Tams Freier, Bart Vandewege musical direction Lionel Meunier direction Saburo Teshigawara choreography Saburo Teshigawara costumes Saburo Teshigawara lighting design Saburo Teshigawara artistic collaboration Rihoko Sato production KARAS, Vox Luminis XL co-production Bozar Brussels, Concertgebouw Brugge, Philharmonie de Paris production and co-ordination for Saburo Teshigawara Epidemic (Richard Castelli, Mélanie Roger, Florence Berthaud) photography Lucas Denuwelaere / Concertgebouw Brugge

music Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

music Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

music Thomas Morley (1558-1602)

music John Sheppard (1515-1558)

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