Magnificat – Gulbenkian Choir

The traditional São Silvestre Concert at the São Roque Church will be this year devoted to the Magnificat. The contemporary language of the Magnificat by the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, introspective and meditative, contrasts with the virtuous Magnificat by 17th century João Lourenço Rebelo, “Mestre de Capela” to King D. João IV, in Vila Viçosa. The dialogue between the several choirs is one of the characteristics of the pieces of the exuberant Sacrae Symphoniae – among them, one Magnificat – by Venetian Giovanni Gabrieli, from which a selection will be conducted by Jorge Matta.