C7 Songs of Valerius (Small choir)

all levels

Ineke van Gelder (NL)

The 17th century in the Low Countries is considered extremely rich and prosperous.
It was the century of the VOC, of the Dutch Masters.
Yet war raged from 1568.
In 1626, Adriaen Valerius, a magistrate in Zeeland, published a history book about this war: Gedenck-clanck.
It described the horrors of war; it talked about the suffering, but also about the courage and perseverance of the people, especially of Holland and Zeeland.
Valerius illustrated his history stories with 76 unison songs.
He provided the melodies of - mainly - French dances, which were appealing at that time, with texts composed by himself in order to arouse and strengthen patriotic feelings and to strengthen people in their Calvinistic faith.
The composition that Renilde made especially for this course 'Dutch Masters', is based on some of these Valerius songs.
In the workshop Songs of Valerius, we will get acquainted with the songs from the Gedenck-clanck.
We are going to sing them, sometimes in the original Dutch text, sometimes in translation. Single-voice and polyphonic, in various arrangements.

Experience with choral singing is not necessary, everyone who likes to sing is very welcome!