SONGSOF THE

CHENNAIAlliance Française

Sunday, December 17

PUNEMazda Hall

Tuesday, December 19

MUMBAINCPA - Experimental Theatre

Thursday, December 21

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN

WESTERN RENAISSANCE MUSIC AND INDIAN CLASSICAL POETRY

Akadêmia (France)

Varun Aiyer and Sravasti Banerjee, actors

Françoise Lasserre, conductorwith

presents

Concert Partners

Main Sponsor

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN

WESTERN RENAISSANCE MUSIC AND INDIAN CLASSICAL POETRY

Akadêmia (France)

Varun Aiyer and Sravasti Banerjee, actors

Françoise Lasserre, conductorwith

presents

Concert Partners

Main Sponsor

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN

WESTERN RENAISSANCE MUSIC AND INDIAN CLASSICAL POETRY

Bertrand de HartinghCounsellor for Cooperation and Cultural AffairsFrench Institute in India - Country DirectorBonjour India 2017-18 General CuratorFrench Embassy in India

Clément Janequin (1485-1558)Le chant des oyseaulx

(The song of the birds)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Ecco mormorar l’onde

(Now the waves murmur)

Lumi, miei cari lumi

(Eyes, dear eyes of mine)

Nigra sum

(Dark am I)

Giovanni Paolo Caprioli (1580-1627)Vulnerasti cor meum

(You have taken away my heart)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca1525-1594)Osculetur me

Anthoine de Bertrand (1540-1582)Ce ris plus doux

(This smile softer)

Je suis un demi-dieu

(I am a demi-god)

Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)Come, clap thy hands

Thoinot Arbeau (1520-1595)Pavane : Belle qui tiens ma vie

(Pavan: Beautiful one who holds my life)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Baci soavi e cari (Sweet and dear kisses)

Clément Janequin (1485-1558)Toutes les nuicts (Every night)L’amour, la mort et la vie (Love, Death and Life)

De Bussy (1553-1583)Las il n’a nul mal(Alas! He knows no sorrow)

Michel Lambert (1610-1696)D’un feu secret(By a secret fire)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Lamento della Ninfa (The nymph’s lament)

Guillaume Costeley (1530-1606)Mignonne, allons voir si la roze(Sweat heart, let’s see if the rose…)

Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)Sing we at pleasure

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)O nuit (O night)

PROGRAMME

Since 2013, the Ensemble Akadêmia has made music an instrument that brings together artists from India and France. Over the last few years, Akadêmia has not only performed in various Indian cities, but also brought French professionals to train musicians and singers in India.

Thanks to the longstanding work of Akadêmia, we are happy to present this tribute to love, Songs of the Heart, in Chennai, Pune and Mumbai, featuring voices we may one day have the joy of hearing in some of Europe’s most beautiful theatres and in great performances in India.

Under the direction of Françoise Lasserre, the programme brings together singers and instrumentalists from France with singers and actors from India. Songs of the Heart juxtaposes poetry and music from the Renaissance era in dialogue with jewels of Indian poetry. In parallel ways, they celebrate love – both sacred and profane.

France holds dear its mission of creation, dissemination and transmission of arts. It is thus more important than ever to support Akadêmia and its programme, Songs of the Heart: a project that elicits parallels between both our worlds through divine poetry.

Songs of the Heart, and Akadêmia’s work in India in general, represent exactly what we want to do with Bonjour India’s latest edition, dedicated to innovation, creativity and partnership between France and India: emphasise long-term partnerships, commit to working with India in spaces that allow respectful and mutual enrichment of two traditions. Songs of the Heart, thus, naturally finds its place in Bonjour India’s four-month journey, and in the larger tale between our two countries.

I express my deep gratitude to Akadêmia and its members, to their sponsor, Société Générale, and to our local partners, the Prakriti Foundation and the Poona Music Society, for making this partnership possible.

Bertrand de HartinghCounsellor for Cooperation and Cultural AffairsFrench Institute in India - Country DirectorBonjour India 2017-18 General CuratorFrench Embassy in India

Clément Janequin (1485-1558)Le chant des oyseaulx

(The song of the birds)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Ecco mormorar l’onde

(Now the waves murmur)

Lumi, miei cari lumi

(Eyes, dear eyes of mine)

Nigra sum

(Dark am I)

Giovanni Paolo Caprioli (1580-1627)Vulnerasti cor meum

(You have taken away my heart)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca1525-1594)Osculetur me

Anthoine de Bertrand (1540-1582)Ce ris plus doux

(This smile softer)

Je suis un demi-dieu

(I am a demi-god)

Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)Come, clap thy hands

Thoinot Arbeau (1520-1595)Pavane : Belle qui tiens ma vie

(Pavan: Beautiful one who holds my life)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Baci soavi e cari (Sweet and dear kisses)

Clément Janequin (1485-1558)Toutes les nuicts (Every night)L’amour, la mort et la vie (Love, Death and Life)

De Bussy (1553-1583)Las il n’a nul mal(Alas! He knows no sorrow)

Michel Lambert (1610-1696)D’un feu secret(By a secret fire)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)Lamento della Ninfa (The nymph’s lament)

Guillaume Costeley (1530-1606)Mignonne, allons voir si la roze(Sweat heart, let’s see if the rose…)

Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)Sing we at pleasure

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)O nuit (O night)

PROGRAMME

Since 2013, the Ensemble Akadêmia has made music an instrument that brings together artists from India and France. Over the last few years, Akadêmia has not only performed in various Indian cities, but also brought French professionals to train musicians and singers in India.

Thanks to the longstanding work of Akadêmia, we are happy to present this tribute to love, Songs of the Heart, in Chennai, Pune and Mumbai, featuring voices we may one day have the joy of hearing in some of Europe’s most beautiful theatres and in great performances in India.

Under the direction of Françoise Lasserre, the programme brings together singers and instrumentalists from France with singers and actors from India. Songs of the Heart juxtaposes poetry and music from the Renaissance era in dialogue with jewels of Indian poetry. In parallel ways, they celebrate love – both sacred and profane.

France holds dear its mission of creation, dissemination and transmission of arts. It is thus more important than ever to support Akadêmia and its programme, Songs of the Heart: a project that elicits parallels between both our worlds through divine poetry.

Songs of the Heart, and Akadêmia’s work in India in general, represent exactly what we want to do with Bonjour India’s latest edition, dedicated to innovation, creativity and partnership between France and India: emphasise long-term partnerships, commit to working with India in spaces that allow respectful and mutual enrichment of two traditions. Songs of the Heart, thus, naturally finds its place in Bonjour India’s four-month journey, and in the larger tale between our two countries.

I express my deep gratitude to Akadêmia and its members, to their sponsor, Société Générale, and to our local partners, the Prakriti Foundation and the Poona Music Society, for making this partnership possible.

After the creation of Orfeo Crossing the Ganges (2013) and Viva Vivaldi (2015) in collaboration with the Neemrana Foundation, Akadêmia has expanded its field of action to include other partners and artists from major Indian cities. In 2016, the production Tales

of the Night brought together singers from Delhi and Bangalore, and the concert went on tour to Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi.

Thanks to new partners, Prakriti Foundation (Chennai) and NCPA (Mumbai), and thanks to old friends like the Poona Music Society, with the continuing support of Institut Français and the Alliance Française Network, this time, 13 singers from Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Delhi will join 8 musicians from France to celebrate sacred and profane love in Songs of the Heart.

Our project is based on a dialogue: a dialogue between Western music of the Renaissance and Indian classical poetry, between the spoken voice and the singing voice. We will hear the same passion taking hold of a devotee for their god and a lover for their beloved. The sensuality of the Song of Songs, a poetic book of unknown origin from the Bible, which celebrates the mystical union of Jerusalem and God, finds an echo in the spiritual literature of Rumi and Kabir, and later in the devotional songs of Mira Baï.

Texts from Sangam poetry evoking states of love find a special resonance in the music of Monteverdi, who is one of the first composers to set to music a variety of feelings related to love such as the awakening of desire, passion, jealousy, indifference and separation.

Each Akadêmia project in India has 2 goals:

To create a dialogue between our two cultures

To develop the talent of young Indians who choose to express themselves in the field of Western music and give them the opportunity to participate in a fully professional Indian chamber choir by 2010.

May this last wish be fulfilled to render justice to the efforts of one and all!

- Françoise Lasserre

4

4

SOPRANOS

ALTOS

TENORS

BASSES

VIOLA DA GAMBA

ARCHLUTE

ACTORS

CONDUCTOR

Sparsh Bajpai

Nilima Buch

Harmonie Deschamps

Faye Monteiro

Shreya Nayak

Nikitha Venkatesh

Usha Aron

Jean-Christophe Clair

Gaythri Subramanian

Marilyn Thomas

Prabhat Chandola

Jean Delescluse

Paco Garcia

Lijo K. Jose

Rahul Bharadwaj

Philippe Roche

Nimish Shah

Bhanu Sharma

Sylvia Abramowicz

Marc Wolff

Sravasti Banerjee

Varun Aiyer

Françoise Lasserre

PROJECT

After the creation of Orfeo Crossing the Ganges (2013) and Viva Vivaldi (2015) in collaboration with the Neemrana Foundation, Akadêmia has expanded its field of action to include other partners and artists from major Indian cities. In 2016, the production Tales

of the Night brought together singers from Delhi and Bangalore, and the concert went on tour to Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi.

Thanks to new partners, Prakriti Foundation (Chennai) and NCPA (Mumbai), and thanks to old friends like the Poona Music Society, with the continuing support of Institut Français and the Alliance Française Network, this time, 13 singers from Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Delhi will join 8 musicians from France to celebrate sacred and profane love in Songs of the Heart.

Our project is based on a dialogue: a dialogue between Western music of the Renaissance and Indian classical poetry, between the spoken voice and the singing voice. We will hear the same passion taking hold of a devotee for their god and a lover for their beloved. The sensuality of the Song of Songs, a poetic book of unknown origin from the Bible, which celebrates the mystical union of Jerusalem and God, finds an echo in the spiritual literature of Rumi and Kabir, and later in the devotional songs of Mira Baï.

Texts from Sangam poetry evoking states of love find a special resonance in the music of Monteverdi, who is one of the first composers to set to music a variety of feelings related to love such as the awakening of desire, passion, jealousy, indifference and separation.

Each Akadêmia project in India has 2 goals:

To create a dialogue between our two cultures

To develop the talent of young Indians who choose to express themselves in the field of Western music and give them the opportunity to participate in a fully professional Indian chamber choir by 2010.

May this last wish be fulfilled to render justice to the efforts of one and all!

- Françoise Lasserre

4

4

SOPRANOS

ALTOS

TENORS

BASSES

VIOLA DA GAMBA

ARCHLUTE

ACTORS

CONDUCTOR

Sparsh Bajpai

Nilima Buch

Harmonie Deschamps

Faye Monteiro

Shreya Nayak

Nikitha Venkatesh

Usha Aron

Jean-Christophe Clair

Gaythri Subramanian

Marilyn Thomas

Prabhat Chandola

Jean Delescluse

Paco Garcia

Lijo K. Jose

Rahul Bharadwaj

Philippe Roche

Nimish Shah

Bhanu Sharma

Sylvia Abramowicz

Marc Wolff

Sravasti Banerjee

Varun Aiyer

Françoise Lasserre

PROJECT

After studying mathematics, Françoise Lasserre went on to study music: analysis, composition, orchestral conducting (Pierre Dervaux’s classes) as well as the transverse flute. She was fortunate to belong to the small group of singers selected by Philippe Herreweghe, to create the Chapelle Royale ensemble. This meeting was to transform her trajectory, leading her to focus her musical activity on ancient music.

In 1986, Françoise Lasserre created Akadêmia. She has performed numerous concerts in France as well as abroad with this ensemble that brings together professional singers and instrumentalists. She has released 15 CDs with a repertoire ranging from Palestrina to Bach, with a predilection for Monteverdi and Schütz. In terms of aesthetics, she concentrates on authenticity through her choice of instruments and the number and types of voices. Her work has received many awards: 1st prize in the Palestrina competition in 1994, several ffff awards from the magazine Telerama, Diapasons d’Or awards…

Captivated by Indian culture, Françoise Lasserre chose to create an encounter between Western Baroque music, Odissi dance and Hindustani music with Orfeo, Crossing the Ganges.

Along with her collaborators, she also dedicates herself to training young artists, who then have the opportunity to perform with Akadêmia in certain productions. Thus, between 2013 and 2015, with the support of the Institut Français in India she conducted workshops in Delhi for young singers; thanks to the co-production between Akadêmia and The Neemrana Music Foundation, these students performed in the opera Orfeo in Delhi and Paris. They have also participated in concerts in India related to Vivaldi.

In 2016, Orfeo, Crossing the Ganges was toured for 3 performances in France.

FRANÇOISE LASSERREConductor

She is an enthusiastic performer/ theatre-maker for almost a decade now, based in Kolkata and also in and around India. A scholar from the National School of Drama, Sravasti has worked with directors like Koushik Sen, K.S. Rajendran, Kamaluddin Nilu, Abhilash Pillai, Ricardo G. Abad (Philippines) and many more, as a designer, co- director and a performer. She takes deep interest in work developed by people- collectives that do not hold the position of the Director at their centre. She believes in subject- oriented devising of plays that are not merely text dependant. A graduate in Indian Law, Sravasti practiced in the Kolkata High Court before devoting herself completely to the vast arena of performance- oriented work.

SRAVASTI BANERJEEActor

Varun Aiyer has been involved with theatre, music and yoga practice and education for almost a decade- and-a-half. He has worked with various theatre groups and has had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country with professional productions staged at various festivals. A recipient of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India scholarship for study research, travel & performance, he was a scholar at National School of Drama, New Delhi, for three years. He has lent narrative voice for documentaries, performed in short films screened in film- festival circuits, written & reviewed articles on performance philosophy and participated in residencies that delve into transdisciplinary work moving between Art, Philosophy, Music and Ecology. Varun nurtures a special interest in solo performance artistry and in the exploration of performance- making that wrestles with the notion of the Classical.

VARUN AIYERActor

After studying mathematics, Françoise Lasserre went on to study music: analysis, composition, orchestral conducting (Pierre Dervaux’s classes) as well as the transverse flute. She was fortunate to belong to the small group of singers selected by Philippe Herreweghe, to create the Chapelle Royale ensemble. This meeting was to transform her trajectory, leading her to focus her musical activity on ancient music.

In 1986, Françoise Lasserre created Akadêmia. She has performed numerous concerts in France as well as abroad with this ensemble that brings together professional singers and instrumentalists. She has released 15 CDs with a repertoire ranging from Palestrina to Bach, with a predilection for Monteverdi and Schütz. In terms of aesthetics, she concentrates on authenticity through her choice of instruments and the number and types of voices. Her work has received many awards: 1st prize in the Palestrina competition in 1994, several ffff awards from the magazine Telerama, Diapasons d’Or awards…

Captivated by Indian culture, Françoise Lasserre chose to create an encounter between Western Baroque music, Odissi dance and Hindustani music with Orfeo, Crossing the Ganges.

Along with her collaborators, she also dedicates herself to training young artists, who then have the opportunity to perform with Akadêmia in certain productions. Thus, between 2013 and 2015, with the support of the Institut Français in India she conducted workshops in Delhi for young singers; thanks to the co-production between Akadêmia and The Neemrana Music Foundation, these students performed in the opera Orfeo in Delhi and Paris. They have also participated in concerts in India related to Vivaldi.

In 2016, Orfeo, Crossing the Ganges was toured for 3 performances in France.

FRANÇOISE LASSERREConductor

She is an enthusiastic performer/ theatre-maker for almost a decade now, based in Kolkata and also in and around India. A scholar from the National School of Drama, Sravasti has worked with directors like Koushik Sen, K.S. Rajendran, Kamaluddin Nilu, Abhilash Pillai, Ricardo G. Abad (Philippines) and many more, as a designer, co- director and a performer. She takes deep interest in work developed by people- collectives that do not hold the position of the Director at their centre. She believes in subject- oriented devising of plays that are not merely text dependant. A graduate in Indian Law, Sravasti practiced in the Kolkata High Court before devoting herself completely to the vast arena of performance- oriented work.

SRAVASTI BANERJEEActor

Varun Aiyer has been involved with theatre, music and yoga practice and education for almost a decade- and-a-half. He has worked with various theatre groups and has had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country with professional productions staged at various festivals. A recipient of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India scholarship for study research, travel & performance, he was a scholar at National School of Drama, New Delhi, for three years. He has lent narrative voice for documentaries, performed in short films screened in film- festival circuits, written & reviewed articles on performance philosophy and participated in residencies that delve into transdisciplinary work moving between Art, Philosophy, Music and Ecology. Varun nurtures a special interest in solo performance artistry and in the exploration of performance- making that wrestles with the notion of the Classical.

VARUN AIYERActor

Inspired by this credo Akadêmia meets with potential partners all over the world to work together in ways that go beyond concert tours. Our proposals focus on the idea of sharing a Baroque music repertoire that speaks directly to each person’s heart. Meeting local artists – singers or instrumentalists – who would like to be initiated into Baroque music or improve their skills, experiencing the magic of a concert with them, discovering through music everything we have in common and all we can share that goes beyond words, is how we envisage the ensemble’s activities abroad.

Motivated by a desire to make ancient music a part of today’s world, Akadêmia has been developing partnerships with actors from the contemporary stage. It’s reputed interpretations of Schütz and Monteverdi led to collaborations with the choreographers Jean-Christophe Maillot and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for two ballets in 2006, respectively Altro Canto and Mea Culpa, and another one, Mercy, in 2014. In 2011, Akadêmia commissioned a first work from the poet Jean-Pierre Siméon, who wrote Death is Only Death if Love Survives It, inspired by Italian music and the story of Orpheus. Since 2014 the show And they will nail me to the Tree, with music by Bach and Siméon’s poetry, provides a new reading of the Saint Matthew Passion, and leaves the audience overwhelmed at every performance. In 2016, Akadêmia created a delightful production of Pergolesi’s The Servant Turned Mistress, with Emile Valantin’s puppet company.

And, of course, Akadêmia continues to perform the great works of the Baroque repertoire. The ensemble is invited regularly to the Chaise-Dieu festival where, to celebrate 30 years of its existence, it recently interpreted Bach’s Magnificat and Trauerode. 2018 will see the creation of a programme around Augustin Pdleger, an unknown but highly innovative composer from the Baltic region, and an opera by Baldassare Galuppi, The World Upside Down, based on a libretto by Goldoni that offers a new view of men-women relationships. Another project will present JS Bach’s Mass in B Minor, against a video backdrop created by the Dominican music centre at Guebwiller.

Akadêmia also works with audiences who are less familiar with Baroque music, introducing them to Baroque instruments and the repertoire and helping them better appreciate a concert. In 2017-2018, artists from Akadêmia will work with students and teachers at the George Braque College in Reims to create a musical tale for children.

The ensemble’s rich collection of recordings dedicated to Palestrina, Monteverdi, Landi, Cavalli, Schütz and Bach, has been widely praised by critics and has received several awards (Diapason d'or, ffff from Telerama, Choc de Classica…). A recording dedicated to Johann Christoph Bach’s dialogues and lamentos will be released by Eloquentia in 2018. The next recording will be dedicated to Pleger and will be released in 2019.

MUSIC SHOULD INSPIRE CHANGE, MAKE US QUESTION AND THINK IN A CONTEXT OF DIVERSITY THAT TRANSFORMS AND OVERWHELMS.

THE POONA MUSIC SOCIETY has been promoting the love, appreciation and study of good music in the city of Pune since 1946. Its members include people from all walks of life, as appreciating music is a universal phenomenon.

The activities of the Society include presenting concerts by visiting musicians from all over the world as well as organizing lectures, workshops, masterclasses for local music students, film screenings and listening sessions. Over the years, innumerable musicians of great repute have performed in Pune under the aegis of the Society. The Society has also organized successful piano and voice competitions on an all-India level.

The Poona Music Society is run by a group of volunteers and receives support from the local community. It collaborates with artiste managers, cultural institutes, foreign missions and other music promoters in India and around the world.

Pune, as a city, is a preferred destination for performers, due to its enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience, the Mazda Hall, which has good acoustics for chamber music and for the excellent Bluthner concert grand piano which belongs to the Poona Music Society.

For more information on the Poona Music Society, please visit

www.poonamusicsociety.com

PRAKRITI FOUNDATION was founded by Ranvir Shah in Chennai in 1998 to host artistic presentations that would play a catalytic role in changing and enlarging the cultural scene in Chennai. Thus, in the last nineteen years, Prakriti Foundation saw itself typically as the moving force behind events as diverse as music concerts, seminars and serious scholarly discourse, multi media events, experimental and protest cinema and theatre festivals. Prakriti Foundation has worked to explore identity through history and heritage, art and cultural expression. In a city accustomed to a regular diet of classical performance, Prakriti has been the space where scholars, researchers, artists, critics, poets and filmmakers have been able to present their work to those who engage with it on serious terms. Our lecture demonstrations, poetry readings, film screenings and intimate performances continue to dot the Chennai calendar.

‘Poetry with Prakriti’ is an annual festival featuring eminent and emerging poets, each presenting different readings of their poems to small, intimate audiences at several venues across the city – schools, colleges, cafes, IT parks, green public parks, shops, galleries, boutiques, banks and other commercial establishments. The festival is scheduled everywhere, to coincide with the famed ‘Chennai Season’.

The aim of the Poetry with Prakriti Festival is to get poets from varied backgrounds to read and share their poetry in various languages at different locations across the city. This allows multiple groups of people to enjoy creative expression rendered through poetry.

Over the years, we have presented 200 poets from across India, and from countries such as Spain, France, Canada, U.K, Denmark, Switzerland and the U.S.A.

From August 2017, Poetry with Prakriti has become a monthly series with readings and sessions being conducted every month in different venues.

Inspired by this credo Akadêmia meets with potential partners all over the world to work together in ways that go beyond concert tours. Our proposals focus on the idea of sharing a Baroque music repertoire that speaks directly to each person’s heart. Meeting local artists – singers or instrumentalists – who would like to be initiated into Baroque music or improve their skills, experiencing the magic of a concert with them, discovering through music everything we have in common and all we can share that goes beyond words, is how we envisage the ensemble’s activities abroad.

Motivated by a desire to make ancient music a part of today’s world, Akadêmia has been developing partnerships with actors from the contemporary stage. It’s reputed interpretations of Schütz and Monteverdi led to collaborations with the choreographers Jean-Christophe Maillot and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for two ballets in 2006, respectively Altro Canto and Mea Culpa, and another one, Mercy, in 2014. In 2011, Akadêmia commissioned a first work from the poet Jean-Pierre Siméon, who wrote Death is Only Death if Love Survives It, inspired by Italian music and the story of Orpheus. Since 2014 the show And they will nail me to the Tree, with music by Bach and Siméon’s poetry, provides a new reading of the Saint Matthew Passion, and leaves the audience overwhelmed at every performance. In 2016, Akadêmia created a delightful production of Pergolesi’s The Servant Turned Mistress, with Emile Valantin’s puppet company.

And, of course, Akadêmia continues to perform the great works of the Baroque repertoire. The ensemble is invited regularly to the Chaise-Dieu festival where, to celebrate 30 years of its existence, it recently interpreted Bach’s Magnificat and Trauerode. 2018 will see the creation of a programme around Augustin Pdleger, an unknown but highly innovative composer from the Baltic region, and an opera by Baldassare Galuppi, The World Upside Down, based on a libretto by Goldoni that offers a new view of men-women relationships. Another project will present JS Bach’s Mass in B Minor, against a video backdrop created by the Dominican music centre at Guebwiller.

Akadêmia also works with audiences who are less familiar with Baroque music, introducing them to Baroque instruments and the repertoire and helping them better appreciate a concert. In 2017-2018, artists from Akadêmia will work with students and teachers at the George Braque College in Reims to create a musical tale for children.

The ensemble’s rich collection of recordings dedicated to Palestrina, Monteverdi, Landi, Cavalli, Schütz and Bach, has been widely praised by critics and has received several awards (Diapason d'or, ffff from Telerama, Choc de Classica…). A recording dedicated to Johann Christoph Bach’s dialogues and lamentos will be released by Eloquentia in 2018. The next recording will be dedicated to Pleger and will be released in 2019.

MUSIC SHOULD INSPIRE CHANGE, MAKE US QUESTION AND THINK IN A CONTEXT OF DIVERSITY THAT TRANSFORMS AND OVERWHELMS.

THE POONA MUSIC SOCIETY has been promoting the love, appreciation and study of good music in the city of Pune since 1946. Its members include people from all walks of life, as appreciating music is a universal phenomenon.

The activities of the Society include presenting concerts by visiting musicians from all over the world as well as organizing lectures, workshops, masterclasses for local music students, film screenings and listening sessions. Over the years, innumerable musicians of great repute have performed in Pune under the aegis of the Society. The Society has also organized successful piano and voice competitions on an all-India level.

The Poona Music Society is run by a group of volunteers and receives support from the local community. It collaborates with artiste managers, cultural institutes, foreign missions and other music promoters in India and around the world.

Pune, as a city, is a preferred destination for performers, due to its enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience, the Mazda Hall, which has good acoustics for chamber music and for the excellent Bluthner concert grand piano which belongs to the Poona Music Society.

For more information on the Poona Music Society, please visit

www.poonamusicsociety.com

PRAKRITI FOUNDATION was founded by Ranvir Shah in Chennai in 1998 to host artistic presentations that would play a catalytic role in changing and enlarging the cultural scene in Chennai. Thus, in the last nineteen years, Prakriti Foundation saw itself typically as the moving force behind events as diverse as music concerts, seminars and serious scholarly discourse, multi media events, experimental and protest cinema and theatre festivals. Prakriti Foundation has worked to explore identity through history and heritage, art and cultural expression. In a city accustomed to a regular diet of classical performance, Prakriti has been the space where scholars, researchers, artists, critics, poets and filmmakers have been able to present their work to those who engage with it on serious terms. Our lecture demonstrations, poetry readings, film screenings and intimate performances continue to dot the Chennai calendar.

‘Poetry with Prakriti’ is an annual festival featuring eminent and emerging poets, each presenting different readings of their poems to small, intimate audiences at several venues across the city – schools, colleges, cafes, IT parks, green public parks, shops, galleries, boutiques, banks and other commercial establishments. The festival is scheduled everywhere, to coincide with the famed ‘Chennai Season’.

The aim of the Poetry with Prakriti Festival is to get poets from varied backgrounds to read and share their poetry in various languages at different locations across the city. This allows multiple groups of people to enjoy creative expression rendered through poetry.

Over the years, we have presented 200 poets from across India, and from countries such as Spain, France, Canada, U.K, Denmark, Switzerland and the U.S.A.

From August 2017, Poetry with Prakriti has become a monthly series with readings and sessions being conducted every month in different venues.

AMARU, KING OF KASHMIR (7th or 8th century)

The Amaruśataka ranks as some of the finest poetry in the annals of Sanskrit literature.. Its subject is mostly Sringara (erotic love), including aspects such as love, passion, estrangement, longing, rapprochement, joy and sorrow, etc.

In the poems on Akam, the aspects of love of a hero and a heroine are depicted. Love was dealt with in five ‘tinais', each pertaining to a particular region with its own suitable season and appropriate hour of the day and its flora and fauna and characteristic environment. The poems on the theme of love are all in the form of dramatic monologues. The hero, the heroine or the lady-companion seems to appear on the stage and express his or her feelings and thoughts.

SANGAM POETRY

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, an Islamic dervish and a Sufi mystic. He is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual masters and poetical intellects. Born in 1207 AD, he belonged to a family of learned theologians. He made use of everyday life’s circumstances to describe the spiritual world. Rumi’s poems have acqui red immense popular i ty, especially among the Persian speakers of Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.

MAULANA JALALUDDIN RUMI (1207-1273)

Palestrina, his name derived from his probable place of birth, was one of the principal composers of the late 16th century, his style taken as a model by later generations. His musical language represents the climax of musical achievement of the period, above all in his mastery of earlier Franco-Flemish polyphonic techniques, which he used with complete assurance, particularly in the provision of music for the Catholic liturgy both before and after the reforming Council of Trent. Palestrina’s career was largely spent in Rome, at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Cappella Giulia at St Peter’s, and at St John Lateran.

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (ca1525-1594)

Born in Cremona in 1567, Claudio Monteverdi served at the court of the Dukes of Mantua from the early 1590’s until 1612, when he moved to Venice as maestro di cappella at the basilica of St Mark, a position he retained until his death in 1643. His importance as a proponent of the so-called seconda prattica, the new concerted music characteristic of the early Baroque, is unquestioned, as is his pre-eminence in the development of the new form of opera that sprang from the combination of music and rhetoric in the art of Italian monody.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)

A native of the Auvergne, Anthoine de Bertrand seems to have spent the greater part of his life in Toulouse, where he belonged to a circle of humanist poets and scholars. He is said to have been murdered while returning to his estates, the source of his income, by Protestants who objected to his sacred compositions. Anthoine de Bertrand composed chansons, setting poems by Ronsard and influenced in part by the Italian madrigal of the time. He published two collections of ‘Christian sonnets set to music’ and some 10 Latin hymns.

ANTHOINE DE BERTRAND (1540-1582)

She was a Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She was one of the most significant Sants ("true" or "saints") of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 1,300 bhajans (sacred songs) are attributed to her. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of Lord Krishna. In most of her poems, she describes her unconditional love for her Lord and promotes Krishna bhakti as the best way of life because it helps us forget our desires.

MIRA BAÏ (16th century)

Kalidasa was classical India's master poet and dramatist. He demonstrated the expressive and suggestive heights of which the Sanskrit language is capable and revealed the very essence of an entire civilization. Two of his most famous works are the Cloud Messenger, set to music by Gustav Holst, and Shakuntala, set in music by Schubert.

KALIDASA (5th century)

THE POETS THE COMPOSERS

AMARU, KING OF KASHMIR (7th or 8th century)

The Amaruśataka ranks as some of the finest poetry in the annals of Sanskrit literature.. Its subject is mostly Sringara (erotic love), including aspects such as love, passion, estrangement, longing, rapprochement, joy and sorrow, etc.

In the poems on Akam, the aspects of love of a hero and a heroine are depicted. Love was dealt with in five ‘tinais', each pertaining to a particular region with its own suitable season and appropriate hour of the day and its flora and fauna and characteristic environment. The poems on the theme of love are all in the form of dramatic monologues. The hero, the heroine or the lady-companion seems to appear on the stage and express his or her feelings and thoughts.

SANGAM POETRY

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, an Islamic dervish and a Sufi mystic. He is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual masters and poetical intellects. Born in 1207 AD, he belonged to a family of learned theologians. He made use of everyday life’s circumstances to describe the spiritual world. Rumi’s poems have acqui red immense popular i ty, especially among the Persian speakers of Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.

MAULANA JALALUDDIN RUMI (1207-1273)

Palestrina, his name derived from his probable place of birth, was one of the principal composers of the late 16th century, his style taken as a model by later generations. His musical language represents the climax of musical achievement of the period, above all in his mastery of earlier Franco-Flemish polyphonic techniques, which he used with complete assurance, particularly in the provision of music for the Catholic liturgy both before and after the reforming Council of Trent. Palestrina’s career was largely spent in Rome, at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Cappella Giulia at St Peter’s, and at St John Lateran.

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (ca1525-1594)

Born in Cremona in 1567, Claudio Monteverdi served at the court of the Dukes of Mantua from the early 1590’s until 1612, when he moved to Venice as maestro di cappella at the basilica of St Mark, a position he retained until his death in 1643. His importance as a proponent of the so-called seconda prattica, the new concerted music characteristic of the early Baroque, is unquestioned, as is his pre-eminence in the development of the new form of opera that sprang from the combination of music and rhetoric in the art of Italian monody.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)

A native of the Auvergne, Anthoine de Bertrand seems to have spent the greater part of his life in Toulouse, where he belonged to a circle of humanist poets and scholars. He is said to have been murdered while returning to his estates, the source of his income, by Protestants who objected to his sacred compositions. Anthoine de Bertrand composed chansons, setting poems by Ronsard and influenced in part by the Italian madrigal of the time. He published two collections of ‘Christian sonnets set to music’ and some 10 Latin hymns.

ANTHOINE DE BERTRAND (1540-1582)

She was a Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She was one of the most significant Sants ("true" or "saints") of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 1,300 bhajans (sacred songs) are attributed to her. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of Lord Krishna. In most of her poems, she describes her unconditional love for her Lord and promotes Krishna bhakti as the best way of life because it helps us forget our desires.

MIRA BAÏ (16th century)

Kalidasa was classical India's master poet and dramatist. He demonstrated the expressive and suggestive heights of which the Sanskrit language is capable and revealed the very essence of an entire civilization. Two of his most famous works are the Cloud Messenger, set to music by Gustav Holst, and Shakuntala, set in music by Schubert.

KALIDASA (5th century)

THE POETS THE COMPOSERS

Among the great composers of his age (for example, Isaac, Josquin, Taverner, Willaert, Morales), Clément Janequin looms as something of a sport, a master storyteller, an audacious joker, a lover of the bawdy anecdote, an imperishable tone poet, a keen observer who turned street cries to music through the medium of the chanson. While his contemporaries practiced flowing contrapuntal austerities and exquisite charm, Janequin's onomatopoeic glees are alive with a sensation of the actual that lends him a close kinship to his great contemporary, François Rabelais, and has kept his music in performance from his time to now.

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN (ca 1485-1558)

Thoinot Arbeau is an anagram of Jehan Tabourot, theoretician and historian of the dance, whose Orchésographie (1588) contains carefully detailed, step-by-step descriptions of 16th-century and earlier dance forms. Ordained a priest in 1530, he became a canon at Langres (1547), where he was encouraged to pursue his studies by the Jesuits, who considered dance to be educationally important.

Orchésographie is written in the form of a dialogue between the author and a student. Such dances as the pavane, gavotte, and allemande are not only exactly described but also usually illustrated and directly associated with their musical forms. The book also outlines principles that, more than a century later, formed the basis of the five fundamental positions of the feet in classical ballet. In addition to its wealth of technical information, it is an interesting account of social behaviour and manners.

THOINOT ARBEAU (1567-1643)

He was a French singing master, theorbist and composer. Father-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Lully, in 1651 he appears as a ballet dancer at the court of Louis XIV. Beginning in 1656, his reputation as a composer was established and his compositions were regularly printed by Ballard. He was the most prolific composer of tunes in the second half of the seventeenth century. Lambert's role as a singing master and composer of dramatic airs contributed to the creation of the French opera.

MICHEL LAMBERT (1610-1696)

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN

Le chant des oyseaulx

Réveillez-vous cueurs endormis, Le dieu d’amours vous sonne.

A ce premier jour de may Oyseaulx feront merveilles Pour vous mettre hors d’esmay. Destoupez vos oreilles. Vous serez tous en joye mis, Car la saison est bonne.

Vous orrez a mon avis Une doulce musique Que fera le roy mauvis D’une voix autentique. Rire et gaudir c’est mon devis Chacun s’y abandonne.

Rossignol du boys joly, A qui la voix résonne, Pour vous mettre hors d’ennui Vostre gorge jargonne. Fuiez regrets pleurs et souci, Car la saison est bonne.

Arriere maistre coqu, Sortez de no chapitre, Chacun vous est mal tenu, Car vous n’estes qu’un traistre. Par trahison en chacun nid Pondez sans qu’on vous sonne.

Réveillez-vous cueurs endormis, Le dieu d’amours vous sonne.

Behold the waves are murmuring

The song of the birds

Awake, sleeping hearts, The god of love calls you.

On this first day of May The birds will make you marvel To lift yourself from dismay. Unclog your ears. You will be moved to joy, For the season is good.

You will hear, I advise you, A sweet music That the royal blackbird will sing In a pure voice. To laugh and rejoy is my device All with abandon.

Nightingale of the pretty woods, Whose voice resounds, So you don’t become bored Your throat jabbers away. Flee, regrets, tears and worries, For the season commands it.

Turn around, master cuckoo. Get out of our company. Each of us gives you a « bye-bye ». For you are nothing but a traitor. Treacherously in others’ nests, You lay without being called.

Awake, sleeping hearts, The god of love calls you.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

Ecco mormorar l’onde (Tasso)

Ecco mormorar l’onde E tremolar le fronde A l’aura mattutina e gl’arborscelli. E sovra i verdi rami I vagh’augelli Cantar soavemente, E rider l’Oriente. Ecco già l’alb’appare

Behold the waves are murmuring And the leafy branches and saplings Are trembling in the morning breeze. And upon the green boughs the pretty birdsAre sweetly singingAnd the East is smiling,Behold the dawn is appearing,

Among the great composers of his age (for example, Isaac, Josquin, Taverner, Willaert, Morales), Clément Janequin looms as something of a sport, a master storyteller, an audacious joker, a lover of the bawdy anecdote, an imperishable tone poet, a keen observer who turned street cries to music through the medium of the chanson. While his contemporaries practiced flowing contrapuntal austerities and exquisite charm, Janequin's onomatopoeic glees are alive with a sensation of the actual that lends him a close kinship to his great contemporary, François Rabelais, and has kept his music in performance from his time to now.

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN (ca 1485-1558)

Thoinot Arbeau is an anagram of Jehan Tabourot, theoretician and historian of the dance, whose Orchésographie (1588) contains carefully detailed, step-by-step descriptions of 16th-century and earlier dance forms. Ordained a priest in 1530, he became a canon at Langres (1547), where he was encouraged to pursue his studies by the Jesuits, who considered dance to be educationally important.

Orchésographie is written in the form of a dialogue between the author and a student. Such dances as the pavane, gavotte, and allemande are not only exactly described but also usually illustrated and directly associated with their musical forms. The book also outlines principles that, more than a century later, formed the basis of the five fundamental positions of the feet in classical ballet. In addition to its wealth of technical information, it is an interesting account of social behaviour and manners.

THOINOT ARBEAU (1567-1643)

He was a French singing master, theorbist and composer. Father-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Lully, in 1651 he appears as a ballet dancer at the court of Louis XIV. Beginning in 1656, his reputation as a composer was established and his compositions were regularly printed by Ballard. He was the most prolific composer of tunes in the second half of the seventeenth century. Lambert's role as a singing master and composer of dramatic airs contributed to the creation of the French opera.

MICHEL LAMBERT (1610-1696)

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN

Le chant des oyseaulx

Réveillez-vous cueurs endormis, Le dieu d’amours vous sonne.

A ce premier jour de may Oyseaulx feront merveilles Pour vous mettre hors d’esmay. Destoupez vos oreilles. Vous serez tous en joye mis, Car la saison est bonne.

Vous orrez a mon avis Une doulce musique Que fera le roy mauvis D’une voix autentique. Rire et gaudir c’est mon devis Chacun s’y abandonne.

Rossignol du boys joly, A qui la voix résonne, Pour vous mettre hors d’ennui Vostre gorge jargonne. Fuiez regrets pleurs et souci, Car la saison est bonne.

Arriere maistre coqu, Sortez de no chapitre, Chacun vous est mal tenu, Car vous n’estes qu’un traistre. Par trahison en chacun nid Pondez sans qu’on vous sonne.

Réveillez-vous cueurs endormis, Le dieu d’amours vous sonne.

Behold the waves are murmuring

The song of the birds

Awake, sleeping hearts, The god of love calls you.

On this first day of May The birds will make you marvel To lift yourself from dismay. Unclog your ears. You will be moved to joy, For the season is good.

You will hear, I advise you, A sweet music That the royal blackbird will sing In a pure voice. To laugh and rejoy is my device All with abandon.

Nightingale of the pretty woods, Whose voice resounds, So you don’t become bored Your throat jabbers away. Flee, regrets, tears and worries, For the season commands it.

Turn around, master cuckoo. Get out of our company. Each of us gives you a « bye-bye ». For you are nothing but a traitor. Treacherously in others’ nests, You lay without being called.

Awake, sleeping hearts, The god of love calls you.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

Ecco mormorar l’onde (Tasso)

Ecco mormorar l’onde E tremolar le fronde A l’aura mattutina e gl’arborscelli. E sovra i verdi rami I vagh’augelli Cantar soavemente, E rider l’Oriente. Ecco già l’alb’appare

Behold the waves are murmuring And the leafy branches and saplings Are trembling in the morning breeze. And upon the green boughs the pretty birdsAre sweetly singingAnd the East is smiling,Behold the dawn is appearing,

E si specchia nel mare E rasserena il cielo E imperla il dolce gelo E gl’alti monti indora. O bella e vagh’aurora, L’aura è tua messagiera, e tu de l’aura Ch’ogn’arso cor ristora.

Mirrored in the sea, It brings calm to the sky And a pearly sheen to the gentle frost And bathes the mountains in gold. O dawn of beauty and grace, The breeze is your herald And you the breeze’s, Bringing solace to every fevered heart.

Et quam decora, Pulchriora sunt ubera tua vino, Et odor unguentorum tuorum Super omnia aromata.

my love, How much better is thy love than wine, And the smell of thine ointments Than all spices.

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA

Osculetur me (La Cantica)

Osculetur me osculo oris sui, Quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino, Fragantia unguentis optimis. Oleum effusum nomen tuum, Ideo adolescentulae dilexerunt te.

Let him kiss me

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine, because of the savour of thy good ointments. Thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

ANTHOINE DE BERTRAND

Je suis un Demi-dieu (Ronsard)

Je suis un Demi-dieu, quand assis vis à vis De toy, mon cher soucy, j’escoute les devis, Devis entre rompus d’un gracieux sourire,

Souris qui me retient le coeur emprisonné, Car en voyant tes yeux je me pasme estonné, Et de mes pauvres flancs un seul mot je ne tire.

Ma langue s’engourdist, un petit feu me court Honteux dessous la peau : je suis muet et sourd, Et une obscure nuict dessus mes yeux demeure;

Mon sang devient glacé, l’esprit fuit de mon corps, Mon coeur tramble de crainte, et peut s’en faut alors Qu’à tes pieds estendu, sans âme je ne meure.

I am a demi-god

I am a demi-god when seated face to face With you, my dear love, I hear you gossip, Gossip mingled with that gracious smile,

A smile which holds me with heart imprisoned, For in looking into your eyes, I faint away astonished, And cannot find a single word in my poor breast.

My tongue is numbed, a little fire runs Ashamed beneath my skin, I am dumb and deaf, And dark night rests over my eyes;

My blood runs cold, the spirit flees from my body, I tremble all over with fear, and I am oh so close To lying stretched out at your feet, languishing and dying.

I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. Therefore the King hath loved me And hath brought me into his chambers, And hath said unto me: Arise up my love and come away. The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear in our land. The time of pruning is at hand.

Claudio Monteverdi

Nigra sum (La Cantica)

Nigra sum, sed formosa, Filiae Jerusalem. Ideo dilexit me Rex, Et introduxit in cubiculum suum, Et dixit mihi: Surge amica mea, et veni. Jam hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit, Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra. Tempus putationis advenit.

Eyes, dear eyes of mine

Eyes, dear eyes of mine That flash with a glance so rapid That scarcely alights, then flies away And returns after so long an interval That my heart is made wretched; Turn them towards me, turn Those restless eyes, For they will never light upon Another person, anywhere Who loves you so whole-heartedly Or who is more your own than I.

Claudio Monteverdi

Lumi, miei cari lumi (Guarini)

Lumi, miei cari lumi, Che lampeggiate un si veloce sguardo Ch’a pena mira e fugge E poi torna si tardo Che’l mio cor se ne strugge; Volgete a me, volgete Quei fuggitivi rai, Ch’oggetto non vedrete In altra parte mai Con si giusto desio, Che tanto vostro sia quanto son io.

GIOVANNI PAOLO CAPRIOLI

Vulnerasti cor meum (La Cantica)

Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea sponsa, In uno oculorum tuorum. Quam pulchra es amica mea,

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, My spouse, with one of thine eyes. How fair and how pleasant art thou,

ANTOINE DE BERTRAND

Ce ris plus dous que l’oeuvre d’un abeille

(Ronsard)

Ce ris plus dous que l’oeuvre d’un abeille, Ces doubles liz doublement argentez, Ces diamans à double ranc plantez Dans le corail de sa bouche vermeille,

Ce doux parler qui les mourants esveille, Ce chant qui tient mes soucis enchantez, Et ces deux cieux, sur deux astres antez, De ma Déesse annoncent la merveille.

This smile, sweeter than bee’s honey

This smile, sweeter than bee’s honey These teeth like two silvery ramparts, These diamonds planted in double rows In the coral of her crimson lips,

This sweet speech which re-awakens souls, This song which holds my fears enchanted And these two heavens above two stars Announce the miracle which is my Goddess.

E si specchia nel mare E rasserena il cielo E imperla il dolce gelo E gl’alti monti indora. O bella e vagh’aurora, L’aura è tua messagiera, e tu de l’aura Ch’ogn’arso cor ristora.

Mirrored in the sea, It brings calm to the sky And a pearly sheen to the gentle frost And bathes the mountains in gold. O dawn of beauty and grace, The breeze is your herald And you the breeze’s, Bringing solace to every fevered heart.

Et quam decora, Pulchriora sunt ubera tua vino, Et odor unguentorum tuorum Super omnia aromata.

my love, How much better is thy love than wine, And the smell of thine ointments Than all spices.

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA

Osculetur me (La Cantica)

Osculetur me osculo oris sui, Quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino, Fragantia unguentis optimis. Oleum effusum nomen tuum, Ideo adolescentulae dilexerunt te.

Let him kiss me

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine, because of the savour of thy good ointments. Thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

ANTHOINE DE BERTRAND

Je suis un Demi-dieu (Ronsard)

Je suis un Demi-dieu, quand assis vis à vis De toy, mon cher soucy, j’escoute les devis, Devis entre rompus d’un gracieux sourire,

Souris qui me retient le coeur emprisonné, Car en voyant tes yeux je me pasme estonné, Et de mes pauvres flancs un seul mot je ne tire.

Ma langue s’engourdist, un petit feu me court Honteux dessous la peau : je suis muet et sourd, Et une obscure nuict dessus mes yeux demeure;

Mon sang devient glacé, l’esprit fuit de mon corps, Mon coeur tramble de crainte, et peut s’en faut alors Qu’à tes pieds estendu, sans âme je ne meure.

I am a demi-god

I am a demi-god when seated face to face With you, my dear love, I hear you gossip, Gossip mingled with that gracious smile,

A smile which holds me with heart imprisoned, For in looking into your eyes, I faint away astonished, And cannot find a single word in my poor breast.

My tongue is numbed, a little fire runs Ashamed beneath my skin, I am dumb and deaf, And dark night rests over my eyes;

My blood runs cold, the spirit flees from my body, I tremble all over with fear, and I am oh so close To lying stretched out at your feet, languishing and dying.

I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. Therefore the King hath loved me And hath brought me into his chambers, And hath said unto me: Arise up my love and come away. The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear in our land. The time of pruning is at hand.

Claudio Monteverdi

Nigra sum (La Cantica)

Nigra sum, sed formosa, Filiae Jerusalem. Ideo dilexit me Rex, Et introduxit in cubiculum suum, Et dixit mihi: Surge amica mea, et veni. Jam hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit, Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra. Tempus putationis advenit.

Eyes, dear eyes of mine

Eyes, dear eyes of mine That flash with a glance so rapid That scarcely alights, then flies away And returns after so long an interval That my heart is made wretched; Turn them towards me, turn Those restless eyes, For they will never light upon Another person, anywhere Who loves you so whole-heartedly Or who is more your own than I.

Claudio Monteverdi

Lumi, miei cari lumi (Guarini)

Lumi, miei cari lumi, Che lampeggiate un si veloce sguardo Ch’a pena mira e fugge E poi torna si tardo Che’l mio cor se ne strugge; Volgete a me, volgete Quei fuggitivi rai, Ch’oggetto non vedrete In altra parte mai Con si giusto desio, Che tanto vostro sia quanto son io.

GIOVANNI PAOLO CAPRIOLI

Vulnerasti cor meum (La Cantica)

Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea sponsa, In uno oculorum tuorum. Quam pulchra es amica mea,

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, My spouse, with one of thine eyes. How fair and how pleasant art thou,

ANTOINE DE BERTRAND

Ce ris plus dous que l’oeuvre d’un abeille

(Ronsard)

Ce ris plus dous que l’oeuvre d’un abeille, Ces doubles liz doublement argentez, Ces diamans à double ranc plantez Dans le corail de sa bouche vermeille,

Ce doux parler qui les mourants esveille, Ce chant qui tient mes soucis enchantez, Et ces deux cieux, sur deux astres antez, De ma Déesse annoncent la merveille.

This smile, sweeter than bee’s honey

This smile, sweeter than bee’s honey These teeth like two silvery ramparts, These diamonds planted in double rows In the coral of her crimson lips,

This sweet speech which re-awakens souls, This song which holds my fears enchanted And these two heavens above two stars Announce the miracle which is my Goddess.

Du beau jardin de son printemps riant

Naist un parfum qui mesme l’Orient Embasmeroit de ses douces aleines :

Et de là sort le charme d’une voix, Qui tous ravis fait sauteler le boys, Planer les monts, et montagner les plaines.

From the beautiful garden of her youthful spring time

Is born a perfume, which heaven at all times Would perfume with its sweet breath.

And from thence issues the magic of a voice Which makes the woods completely charmed, Makes mountains plains, and plains mountains.

THOMAS WEELKES

Come, clap thy hands (Heveningham)

Come, clap thy hands, thou shepherds swain, Phyllis doth love thee again! If thou agree, then sing with me: Phyllis my choice of choice shall be.

THOINOT ARBEAU

Belle qui tiens ma vie (Pavane)

Belle qui tiens ma vie, Captive dans tes yeux, Qui m’as l’âme ravie D’un souris gracieux. Viens tôt me secourir, Ou me faudra mourir.

Tes beautés et ta grâce Et tes divins propos Ont échauffé la grâce Qui me gelait les os, Et ont rempli mon coeur D’une amoureuse ardeur.

Approche donc ma belle, Approche toi mon bien. Ne me sois plus rebelle Puisque mon coeur est tien. Pour mon mal apaiser Donne-moi un baiser.

Beautiful one, who holds my life Captive in your eyes, Who has ravished my soul With a gracious smile. Come to my aid Or I must die.

Your beauty and your grace And your divine ways Have melted the ice Which was freezing my bones And have filled my heart With a loving ardor.

Come near, my lovely one, Come near, my dear one, Do not resist me further For my heart is yours, To relieve my ills Give me a kiss.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

Baci soavi e cari (Guarini)

Baci, soavi e cari, Cibi della mia vita, Ch’or m’involate or mi rendete il core : Per voi convien ch’impari,

Sweet and dear kisses

Sweet and dear kisses, Sustenance of my life, Which now steal away, now give back my heart: For your sake I must learn

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN

Toutes les nuictz (Le Jardin de Plaisance)

Toutes les nuictz tu m’es presente Par songe doux et gratieux Mais tous les jours tu m’es absente Qui m’est regret fort ennuyeux Puis donc que la nuit me vault mieux Et que je n’ay bien que par songe Dormez de jour o pauvres yeux Adin que sans cesse je songe.

All the nights

All the nights you are there for me In sweet and graceful dreams But all the days I regret your absence Most unbearable. So, as night passes better for me And as I know happiness only in dreams Let my poor eyes sleep by day, So that I may dream forever more.

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN

L’amour, la mort et la vie

L’amour, la mort et la vie Me tourmentent à tout heure De me laisser ont envie Et veullent que j’y demeure Quand je veulx rire je pleure Du feu d’amour qui s’avive La vie veult que je meure Et la mort veult que je vive.

Love, Death and Life

Love, Death and Life Torment me at every hour, Wanting to leave me and yet Desiring that I stay. When I want to laugh, I cry. Of Love’s fire that revives, Life wants me to die And Death wants me to live.

Come un’alma rapita Non senta il duol di morte e pur si more. Quant’hà di dolce amore, Perché sempr’io vi baci, O dolcissime rose, In voi tutto ripose; E s’io potessi ai vostri dolci baci La mia vita dinire O che dolce morire !

How a stolen heart Feels no pain of dying and yet dies. All that is sweet in love, Whenever I kiss you, Oh sweetest roses, Resides in you; And if I could, with your sweet kisses, End my life, Oh what a sweet death!

SIEUR DE BUSSY

Las il n’a nul mal

Las il n’a nul mal qui n’a le mal d’amour.

Alas! He knows no sorrow

Alas! He knows no sorrow who knows not the sorrow of love. The daughter of the king is at the foot of the tower, Crying, sighing and suffering a great distress. Her father asks his daughter, “What is the matter? Do you want a husband or a lord?” “I want neither husband nor lord. I want my friend who is in the tower.”

La dille du Roy est au pied de la tour Qui pleure et soupire, meine grand doulour. Son père demande « Fille qu’avez-vous ? Voulez-vous un mary ou seignour" ? « Je ne veux un mary, ni seignour. Je veux le mien amy qui est dans la tour. ».

Du beau jardin de son printemps riant

Naist un parfum qui mesme l’Orient Embasmeroit de ses douces aleines :

Et de là sort le charme d’une voix, Qui tous ravis fait sauteler le boys, Planer les monts, et montagner les plaines.

From the beautiful garden of her youthful spring time

Is born a perfume, which heaven at all times Would perfume with its sweet breath.

And from thence issues the magic of a voice Which makes the woods completely charmed, Makes mountains plains, and plains mountains.

THOMAS WEELKES

Come, clap thy hands (Heveningham)

Come, clap thy hands, thou shepherds swain, Phyllis doth love thee again! If thou agree, then sing with me: Phyllis my choice of choice shall be.

THOINOT ARBEAU

Belle qui tiens ma vie (Pavane)

Belle qui tiens ma vie, Captive dans tes yeux, Qui m’as l’âme ravie D’un souris gracieux. Viens tôt me secourir, Ou me faudra mourir.

Tes beautés et ta grâce Et tes divins propos Ont échauffé la grâce Qui me gelait les os, Et ont rempli mon coeur D’une amoureuse ardeur.

Approche donc ma belle, Approche toi mon bien. Ne me sois plus rebelle Puisque mon coeur est tien. Pour mon mal apaiser Donne-moi un baiser.

Beautiful one, who holds my life Captive in your eyes, Who has ravished my soul With a gracious smile. Come to my aid Or I must die.

Your beauty and your grace And your divine ways Have melted the ice Which was freezing my bones And have filled my heart With a loving ardor.

Come near, my lovely one, Come near, my dear one, Do not resist me further For my heart is yours, To relieve my ills Give me a kiss.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

Baci soavi e cari (Guarini)

Baci, soavi e cari, Cibi della mia vita, Ch’or m’involate or mi rendete il core : Per voi convien ch’impari,

Sweet and dear kisses

Sweet and dear kisses, Sustenance of my life, Which now steal away, now give back my heart: For your sake I must learn

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN

Toutes les nuictz (Le Jardin de Plaisance)

Toutes les nuictz tu m’es presente Par songe doux et gratieux Mais tous les jours tu m’es absente Qui m’est regret fort ennuyeux Puis donc que la nuit me vault mieux Et que je n’ay bien que par songe Dormez de jour o pauvres yeux Adin que sans cesse je songe.

All the nights

All the nights you are there for me In sweet and graceful dreams But all the days I regret your absence Most unbearable. So, as night passes better for me And as I know happiness only in dreams Let my poor eyes sleep by day, So that I may dream forever more.

CLÉMENT JANEQUIN

L’amour, la mort et la vie

L’amour, la mort et la vie Me tourmentent à tout heure De me laisser ont envie Et veullent que j’y demeure Quand je veulx rire je pleure Du feu d’amour qui s’avive La vie veult que je meure Et la mort veult que je vive.

Love, Death and Life

Love, Death and Life Torment me at every hour, Wanting to leave me and yet Desiring that I stay. When I want to laugh, I cry. Of Love’s fire that revives, Life wants me to die And Death wants me to live.

Come un’alma rapita Non senta il duol di morte e pur si more. Quant’hà di dolce amore, Perché sempr’io vi baci, O dolcissime rose, In voi tutto ripose; E s’io potessi ai vostri dolci baci La mia vita dinire O che dolce morire !

How a stolen heart Feels no pain of dying and yet dies. All that is sweet in love, Whenever I kiss you, Oh sweetest roses, Resides in you; And if I could, with your sweet kisses, End my life, Oh what a sweet death!

SIEUR DE BUSSY

Las il n’a nul mal

Las il n’a nul mal qui n’a le mal d’amour.

Alas! He knows no sorrow

Alas! He knows no sorrow who knows not the sorrow of love. The daughter of the king is at the foot of the tower, Crying, sighing and suffering a great distress. Her father asks his daughter, “What is the matter? Do you want a husband or a lord?” “I want neither husband nor lord. I want my friend who is in the tower.”

La dille du Roy est au pied de la tour Qui pleure et soupire, meine grand doulour. Son père demande « Fille qu’avez-vous ? Voulez-vous un mary ou seignour" ? « Je ne veux un mary, ni seignour. Je veux le mien amy qui est dans la tour. ».

MICHEL LAMBERT

D’un feu secret (Charles Bouchardeau)

D’un feu secret je me sens consumer Sans pouvoir soulager le mal qui me possède: Je pourrois bien guérir si je cessois d’aymer Mais j’ayme mieux le mal que le remède.

By a secret fire

I feel myself consumed by a secret dire, Not able to calm the trouble that possesses me: I could easily get well if I were to stop loving, But I prefer the illness to the remedy.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

Lamento della Ninfa (Rinuccini)

Non havea Febo ancora recato al mondo il dí, Ch'una donzella fuora del proprio albergo uscí. Sul pallidetto volto scorgea se il suo dolor, Spesso gli venia sciolto un gran sospir dal cor.

The nymph’s lament

Phoebus had not yet brought the day to the world when a damsel came out of her house; her pain could be read on her pale face, and every so often a deep sigh rose from her heart;

Amor sí bella fè. (Miserella, ah più, no, Tanto gel soffrir non può.) Ne mai sí dolci baci Da quella bocca havrai, Ne più soavi, ah taci,Taci, che troppo il sai.

Sí tra sdegnosi pianti Spargea le voci al ciel; Cosí ne' cori amanti Mesce Amor diamma, e gel.

So fair a faith. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, can she suffer so much ice)Not ever such sweet kissesWill he have from that mouth,nor softer. Ah quiet,Quiet, he knows it only too well.

Thus with indigent complaints,The voices rose up to the sky;Thus, in loving heartsLove mingles flame and ice.

Sí calpestando diori errava hor qua, hor là, I suoi perduti amori così piangendo va.

Amor, (Dicea), Amor, (il ciel mirando, il piè fermo,) Amor, Amor, Dov'è la fé Ch'el traditor Giurò? (Miserella) Fa che ritorni il mio Amor com'ei pur fu, O tu m'ancidi, ch'io Non mi tormenti più. (Miserella, ah più, no, Tanto gel soffrir non può.) Non vo più che I sospiri se lontan da me, No, no che I martiri Più non dirammi affè. (Ah miserella, ah più, no, no)Perché di lui mi struggo, Tutt'orgoglioso sta: Che sí, che sí se'l fuggo Ancor mi pregherà (Miserella, ah più, no, Tanto gel soffrir non può.) Se ciglio ha più sereno Colei, che'l mio non è, Già non rinchiude in seno

treading on flowers, she wandered to and fro, and bewailed her lost loves in these words.

Love, (she said)Love, (looking at the sky, she stood unmoving)Love, Love,Where is the truthThat the traitorVowed? (unhappy one)Let my lover become againWhat he once was,Or else kill me so thatI torment myself no more. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, can she suffer so much ice)I no longer want him to draw breathUnless far from me,So that he can no longer say the thingsThat torture me. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, no)Because I destroy myself for him,So full of pride as he is;But if I flee from him,Again he entreats me. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, can she suffer so much ice)A more serene eyebrowHas she than mine,But love has not planted in her breast

GUILLAUME COSTELEY

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose (Ronsard)

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose Qui ce matin avoit desclose Sa robe de pourpre au Soleil, A point perdu ceste vesprée Les plis de sa robe pourprée, Et son teint au vostre pareil.

Las ! voyez comme en peu d'espace, Mignonne, elle a dessus la place Las ! las ses beautez laissé cheoir ! Ô vrayment marastre Nature, Puis qu'une telle dleur ne dure Que du matin jusques au soir !

Donc, si vous me croyez, mignonne, Tandis que vostre âge dleuronne En sa plus verte nouveauté, Cueillez, cueillez vostre jeunesse : Comme à ceste dleur la vieillesse Fera ternir vostre beauté.

Sweet heart, let’s see if the rose

Sweet heart, let’s see if the rose That this morning had opened Her crimson dress to the Sun, This evening hasn’t lost The folds of her crimson dress, And her complexion similar to yours.

Ah! See how in such short space My sweetheart, she has on this very spot All her beauties lost! O, so un-motherly Nature, Since such a beautiful flower Only lasts from dawn to dusk!

So if you believe me, my sweetheart, While time still flowers for you, In its freshest novelty, Do take advantage of your youthful bloom: As it did to this flower, the doom Of age will blight your beauty.

THOMAS WEELKES

Sing we at pleasure

Sing we at pleasure, Content is our treasure. Sweet love shall keep the ground, Whilst we his praises sound. All shepherds in a ring Shall, dancing, ever sing.

MICHEL LAMBERT

D’un feu secret (Charles Bouchardeau)

D’un feu secret je me sens consumer Sans pouvoir soulager le mal qui me possède: Je pourrois bien guérir si je cessois d’aymer Mais j’ayme mieux le mal que le remède.

By a secret fire

I feel myself consumed by a secret dire, Not able to calm the trouble that possesses me: I could easily get well if I were to stop loving, But I prefer the illness to the remedy.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

Lamento della Ninfa (Rinuccini)

Non havea Febo ancora recato al mondo il dí, Ch'una donzella fuora del proprio albergo uscí. Sul pallidetto volto scorgea se il suo dolor, Spesso gli venia sciolto un gran sospir dal cor.

The nymph’s lament

Phoebus had not yet brought the day to the world when a damsel came out of her house; her pain could be read on her pale face, and every so often a deep sigh rose from her heart;

Amor sí bella fè. (Miserella, ah più, no, Tanto gel soffrir non può.) Ne mai sí dolci baci Da quella bocca havrai, Ne più soavi, ah taci,Taci, che troppo il sai.

Sí tra sdegnosi pianti Spargea le voci al ciel; Cosí ne' cori amanti Mesce Amor diamma, e gel.

So fair a faith. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, can she suffer so much ice)Not ever such sweet kissesWill he have from that mouth,nor softer. Ah quiet,Quiet, he knows it only too well.

Thus with indigent complaints,The voices rose up to the sky;Thus, in loving heartsLove mingles flame and ice.

Sí calpestando diori errava hor qua, hor là, I suoi perduti amori così piangendo va.

Amor, (Dicea), Amor, (il ciel mirando, il piè fermo,) Amor, Amor, Dov'è la fé Ch'el traditor Giurò? (Miserella) Fa che ritorni il mio Amor com'ei pur fu, O tu m'ancidi, ch'io Non mi tormenti più. (Miserella, ah più, no, Tanto gel soffrir non può.) Non vo più che I sospiri se lontan da me, No, no che I martiri Più non dirammi affè. (Ah miserella, ah più, no, no)Perché di lui mi struggo, Tutt'orgoglioso sta: Che sí, che sí se'l fuggo Ancor mi pregherà (Miserella, ah più, no, Tanto gel soffrir non può.) Se ciglio ha più sereno Colei, che'l mio non è, Già non rinchiude in seno

treading on flowers, she wandered to and fro, and bewailed her lost loves in these words.

Love, (she said)Love, (looking at the sky, she stood unmoving)Love, Love,Where is the truthThat the traitorVowed? (unhappy one)Let my lover become againWhat he once was,Or else kill me so thatI torment myself no more. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, can she suffer so much ice)I no longer want him to draw breathUnless far from me,So that he can no longer say the thingsThat torture me. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, no)Because I destroy myself for him,So full of pride as he is;But if I flee from him,Again he entreats me. (unhappy one, ah, no more, no, can she suffer so much ice)A more serene eyebrowHas she than mine,But love has not planted in her breast

GUILLAUME COSTELEY

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose (Ronsard)

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose Qui ce matin avoit desclose Sa robe de pourpre au Soleil, A point perdu ceste vesprée Les plis de sa robe pourprée, Et son teint au vostre pareil.

Las ! voyez comme en peu d'espace, Mignonne, elle a dessus la place Las ! las ses beautez laissé cheoir ! Ô vrayment marastre Nature, Puis qu'une telle dleur ne dure Que du matin jusques au soir !

Donc, si vous me croyez, mignonne, Tandis que vostre âge dleuronne En sa plus verte nouveauté, Cueillez, cueillez vostre jeunesse : Comme à ceste dleur la vieillesse Fera ternir vostre beauté.

Sweet heart, let’s see if the rose

Sweet heart, let’s see if the rose That this morning had opened Her crimson dress to the Sun, This evening hasn’t lost The folds of her crimson dress, And her complexion similar to yours.

Ah! See how in such short space My sweetheart, she has on this very spot All her beauties lost! O, so un-motherly Nature, Since such a beautiful flower Only lasts from dawn to dusk!

So if you believe me, my sweetheart, While time still flowers for you, In its freshest novelty, Do take advantage of your youthful bloom: As it did to this flower, the doom Of age will blight your beauty.

THOMAS WEELKES

Sing we at pleasure

Sing we at pleasure, Content is our treasure. Sweet love shall keep the ground, Whilst we his praises sound. All shepherds in a ring Shall, dancing, ever sing.

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU

La Nuit (arr. by Joseph Noyon)

O Nuit ! viens apporter à la Terre Le calme enchantement de ton mystère. L’ombre qui t’escorte est si douce ! Si doux est le concert de tes voix chantant l’espérance !

Si grand est ton pouvoir transformant tout en rêve heureux !

O Nuit ! oh, laisse encore à la Terre le calme enchantement de ton mystère. L’ombre qui t’escorte est si douce ! Est-il une beauté aussi belle que le rêve ? Est-il de vérité plus douce que l’espérance ?

Evelyne Collin Director Société Générale in India and her team

Ranvir Shah and his team at The Prakriti Foundation

Binaifer Malegam and Jehangir Batiwala from The Poona Music Society

The Culture Lab of Nadir Godrej

Situ Singh Bühler, Patricia Rozario and Adam Greig for having referred their students to our project

Justin McCarthy (harpsichord) and Renuka Narayanan (poetry) for their help

and insights

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Akadêmia would like to thank

Night

O night, come and bring the earth The calm spell of your mystery. Your ushering shadow is so sweet! So sweet is the concert of your voices singing hope!

So great is your power changing everything into a happy dream.

O night, leave the earth a little longer The calm spell of your mystery. Your ushering shadow is so sweet! Is there a beauty as beautiful as dream? Is there a truth sweeter than hope?

PARTNERS

DIAMOND

GOLD

SILVER

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU

La Nuit (arr. by Joseph Noyon)

O Nuit ! viens apporter à la Terre Le calme enchantement de ton mystère. L’ombre qui t’escorte est si douce ! Si doux est le concert de tes voix chantant l’espérance !

Si grand est ton pouvoir transformant tout en rêve heureux !

O Nuit ! oh, laisse encore à la Terre le calme enchantement de ton mystère. L’ombre qui t’escorte est si douce ! Est-il une beauté aussi belle que le rêve ? Est-il de vérité plus douce que l’espérance ?

Evelyne Collin Director Société Générale in India and her team

Ranvir Shah and his team at The Prakriti Foundation

Binaifer Malegam and Jehangir Batiwala from The Poona Music Society

The Culture Lab of Nadir Godrej

Situ Singh Bühler, Patricia Rozario and Adam Greig for having referred their students to our project

Justin McCarthy (harpsichord) and Renuka Narayanan (poetry) for their help

and insights

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Akadêmia would like to thank

Night

O night, come and bring the earth The calm spell of your mystery. Your ushering shadow is so sweet! So sweet is the concert of your voices singing hope!

So great is your power changing everything into a happy dream.

O night, leave the earth a little longer The calm spell of your mystery. Your ushering shadow is so sweet! Is there a beauty as beautiful as dream? Is there a truth sweeter than hope?

PARTNERS

DIAMOND

GOLD

SILVER