¡A la Xácara!

The music combines the archaic musical language inherited from the European Renaissance tradition with local Indian and even African rhythms and melodies. Compositions were made for solo voice, chorus, and instrumental ensembles. The composers were generally Europeans working as parish musicians, but native composers contributed as well.

Ensemble Villancico is unique among ensembles in Scandinavia in its devotion to this original, exciting and colourful musical world. This was the first CD with this repertoire to be produced in a Nordic country.

Ensemble Villancico was formed in 1995 for the purpose of performing and spreading the renaissance music collection “Cancionero de Upsala”. Since then, their program has expanded to include other 16th century collections with historic connections to the Nordic countries. Today, the ensemble performs mostly music from the Latin American baroque period, and is the only Scandinavian ensemble to do so. The ensemble has performed more than 100 concerts in 20 countries, including the Nordic countries, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Baltic States, and in South America. They have appeared both on radio and television, and have two previous CDs: “Cancionero de Upsala 1556″and “Music from a Pack of Cards”. Their founder and leader is Peter Pontvik.

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