VICTORIA | MISSA PRO VICTORIA

Coro VICTORIA

Ana Fernández Vega, conductor

The Missa pro Victoria was written to honour the newly crowned Philip III. In one of his letters, Victoria speaks of this «misa de batalla que dio gran gusto al rey nuestro señor», for it was composed with the king's pleasure in mind, and Victoria gave his style a new turn. The prevailing fashion at court had an Italianate cast, dominated by polychorality and homophony, which suited the Council of Trent well, since it made the text very easy to understand. The programme is completed by polychoral works by contemporaries, placing in perspective this compositional style characteristic of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. We shall hear Vivanco, the native of Ávila who wrote antiphonal pieces; Philippe Rogier, master of the Real Capilla de Madrid in Victoria's time and a representative of the Franco-Flemish school; Andrea Gabrieli, an iconic figure of the Venetian polychoral style; and Francisco Guerrero, whose motet, published precisely in Venice, is performed.