MAAV Festival

The MAAV is the Early Music Festival of Alto Vicentino, organized by the Musical Institute of the City of Thiene. Thiene is an ancient town north of Vicenza, rich in history and traditions. 

The program offers an excursus of musical works composed from the early decades of the 17th century up to Bach.
It focuses on sacred repertoire, with particular attention to Marian devotion and the Advent of Christ in the Catholic tradition, leading up to the Christmas contemplation of the birth of the Child Jesus. 

The featured composers include the great masters of the time: Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Grandi, Viadana, as well as Schütz, Praetorius, and Bach—without neglecting local composers from the Venetian and especially the Vicentine area, such as Agostino Faccho. 

The texts, drawn from the liturgy or devotional writings, highlight the deeply personal and pathos-filled expression of faith that so strongly characterized the period. Interspersed among the vocal pieces are instrumental works from the organ repertoire, further enhancing the sense of closeness to the Mother and the Child in full contemplation of the Incarnate mystery. 

The ensemble “A 2 VOCI” seeks to recreate the sonic atmosphere that could be heard from the early 1600s to the age of Bach in the choir lofts of chapels that embraced the expressive singing of the so-called Seconda Prattica. These are motets and spiritual concertos accompanied by figured bass on the organ, where the voices—whether solo or paired—convey the full lyricism of the poetic text. 

Musicians of the period adorned sacred and devotional texts with sounds, melodic figures, and affetti, seeking to give voice to the sentiments of faith, while at the same time elevating them into the new artistic expression of vocal and musical refinement of the era. 

In addition to the vocal works, organ solos are interwoven, showcasing the distinctive polyphonic construction that remained the hallmark of church music in every age.

Programma
Matthias Weckmann Preludium vel toccata
Claudio Monteverdi Salve Regina secondo da Selva Morale et Spirituale 1640
Girolamo Frescobaldi Canzon dopo la pìstola (1635)
Alessandro Grandi Tota pulchra  da Mottetti  a voce sola, Venezia 1628
 Agostino Faccho Ave Maria  da Concerti Sacri 1624
Johann Froberger Ricercare
Ignazio Donati Ego Flos campi   da Sacri Concentus 1612
Giovan Paolo Cima Canzon quarta “La Pace” (1606)
Agostino Faccho Jesu dulcis memoria  da Secondo libro de’Mottetti 1635
Jan Pieteszoon Sweelinck Puer nobis nascitur
Ludovico da Viadana Quem vidistis pastores  da Cento Concerti ecclesiastici 1602
Tarquinio Merula Canzonetta spirituale sopra la nanna Curtio  precipitato  1638
Johann Sebastian Bach Pastorella BWV 590 n1/2
Johann Sebastian Bach Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier BWV 469
Johann Sebastian Bach Pastorella BWV 590 n.3 e 4
Philipp Nicolai Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (1597)