Keeping with the tradition of these Christmas holidays, the San Ginés Polyphonic Choir offered a concert this Saturday at the Agustín de la Hoz House of Culture in Arrecife, which, on this occasion, was called The Christmas Carol: From the Profane to the Divine, under the direction of Professor Elías Roldán.
The concert included compositions by Spanish Renaissance authors, and in the first part, the audience that filled the permitted capacity was able to enjoy Christmas carols with profane themes such as; Más vale Trocar, Fata la Parte, Dindirindín, Ay, triste que vengo or Hoy comamos y bebamos.
The second part was dedicated to religious Christmas carols such as; Verbum Caro, Niño Dios d'amor Herido, Riu, Riu Chiu, A los maytines era, etc. All works collected from Spanish Renaissance Songbooks such as the Palacio, Upsala or Colombina.
For this concert, the San Ginés Polyphonic Choir was accompanied by an instrumental ensemble composed of Juan Carlos de Mulder (vihuela), Carlos Oramas (vihuela), Daniel Bernaza (cornetto and recorder), Sergey Saprychev (percussion), using instruments that replicate those of the Renaissance, some of them made in the workshop of the Lanzarote luthier Paco Dorta.
The concert, with a certain didactic character, was enriched by the director Elías Roldán, giving some explanations about the characteristics of the Christmas carol as a popular form that emerged in Renaissance Spain. The concert ended with an encore as thanks for the applause and expressions of affection received throughout the concert.
