Singerpreneur - 16th-century soundtrack

by Yayra Sanchez

Before the times of The Beatles and the Justins (read: Timberlake, Bieber), the biggest musical names of the early 1500’s included Thomas Tallis, Heinrich Isaac and Cristóbal de Morales. Some of the hottest beats of the 16^th century came from composers such as Josquin des Prez, Claudin de Sermisy and Jacob Arcadelt. Every decade, every century has its own sound, and in a time when there was no Billboard Top 100 or YouTube, these were the movers and shakers dominating the music industry.

This Saturday and Sunday, audiences can hear the Jouyssance Early Music Ensemble, a renowned Los Angeles-based ensemble dedicated to performing music from before 1650, as they present the first concert of their 2016-2017 season: “The Greatest Hits of 1525”. Under the baton of artistic director Nicole Baker, the ensemble starts the new season with a concert in which they will explore the music of these and other prolific composers of the time, performing works of the early and middle Renaissance. Jouyssance will delight the audience with beloved madrigals, chansons and Lieder, considered some of the earliest and best examples of polyphony. These “greatest hits” are sure to transport us to the early 1600’s through a live soundtrack of the times.