Polyphony along the Po: 

Northern Italian sacred music, medieval to Legrenzi

Northern Italy was a crossroads of Europe, with France, Germany, and the Netherlands on one side, and the rest of the Italian peninsula on the other. As a result, like Singapore of today, it was open to cultural influences from all sides, making for a rich and unique fermenting ground of music. Franco-Flemish composers such as Josquin, Giaches de Wert, and Jachet of Mantua sojourned in Ferrara and Mantua before moving on to Rome, while Italians also did the same before moving north, spreading the Italian style to the rest of Europe. With the 400th anniversary of the baptism of Late Baroque Venetian composer Giovanni Legrenzi, who was a major figure in the generation between Monteverdi and Vivaldi, we take the opportunity to explore the tradition of Northern Italian sacred polyphony from the Renaissance to the Late Baroque.

April 2026, more details to follow