SACRA RAPPRESENTAZIONE

Il canto di Orfeo, conducted by Gianluca Capuano
music by:
Arvo Pärt (1936)
Robert Lippok
Ars Discantica

In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Milan

The evening presents a sacred drama in three parts, built entirely around vocal works by Arvo Pärt and three electronic pieces by Robert Lippok. The structure follows a liturgical order: each section presents a specific thematic core, to which Lippok responds with an electronic resonance conceived as an extension of the acoustic space. Ars Discantica creates brief vocal transitions between the pieces, maintaining the continuity of the liturgical flow.

Part One – Penitential Rite and Psalms
The first section opens with a number of Psalms set to music by the Estonian composer, including the Zwei slawische Psalmen (Psalms 116 and 130), two pieces that alternate between supplication and trust, and finally Cantate Domino, a more luminous piece. This first part is structured as an introduction to the celebration: short texts, clear forms, and a direct relationship between word and resonance.

At the end, Robert Lippok presents a first fifteen-minute electronic interlude, conceived not as a commentary but as an expansion of the sonic space left by the choir.

Part Three – Christological Texts
The third section brings together three works linked to the figure of Christ and to the theme of song and invocation of the Son of God: Which Was the Son of…, a meditation on the genealogy of Jesus which, starting with Joseph and working backwards, traces his true origin: son of Adam and Son of God, based on the text of the Gospel of Luke; the short piece Morning Star, which evokes the Christian community singing of Jesus as the morning star that illuminates the world and mankind; and then Da pacem Domine, a very ancient Latin liturgical antiphon, based on a biblical verse taken from the Book of Sirach: Da pacem, Domine, in diebus nostris, quia non est alius qui pugnet pro nobis nisi tu Deus noster. (“Grant us peace, Lord, in our days, for there is no one else to fight for us but you, our God.”). This is the most directly Christological part of the programme, with a progression moving from remembrance to supplication.
This is followed by a third, shorter electronic interlude, which sets the scene for the conclusion.

Conclusion – The Book of Revelation
The sacred performance concludes with And I heard a voice… (2017). The piece sets to music a verse from chapter 14 of the Book of Revelation, in which a voice ‘from on high’ proclaims the blessedness of the righteous. The text speaks of fulfilment, of judgement as revelation. Pärt’s composition is minimalist: vocal lines that proceed slowly, minimal intervals, and a use of resonance that allows the text to emerge without overloading it.