Ars Imperfecta: Pushing the Bounds of Polyphony

By the late 16th century, the international style of written polyphony became so well-established that some saw a “perfection,” or completion, in the development of elite musical practice in central and western Europe. Other practitioners, however, pushed against at least some of the common elements of the style, at times inspired by more radical interpretations of ancient Greek ideas about music, in some cases foreshadowing the seismic shift of practice that later became known as the musical Baroque. Convivium presents a concert of both famous exemplars of the “ars perfecta” — Josquin and Palestrina chief among them — alongside others whose efforts sometimes seem to lie outside the mainstream, including Orlando di Lasso, Nicola Vicentino, Vicente Lusitano, and more.