COLLABORATION CONCERT WITH SOFIA CHAMBER CHOIR FROM UKRAINE

05.12.25 Église Saint-Albert. Rue Victor Hugo 155, 1030 Schaerbeek

Program note

Music has always been a quiet flame — a symbol of hope, memory, and renewal. Lux in Tenebris (“Light in the Darkness”) brings together voices from Belgium and Ukraine in a shared celebration of the light that endures at the heart of the shadows.

The program moves between lament and illumination, between the shadows of human longing and the radiance of faith. From Renaissance polyphony to contemporary harmonies, each work traces a path through the night toward spiritual awakening.

The journey opens with O vos omnes by Robert Ramsey, a plea filled with both gravity and tenderness. In Ad te levavi, Ludo Claesen responds with a gesture of confident uplift, carried by clear and meditative writing. Eric Whitacre then brings a more intimate glow with With a lily in your hand, where the poetry of Federico García Lorca unfolds in delicate, modern harmonies.

Francis Poulenc’s Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noël (1952) celebrate the mystery of the Nativity with both inner and radiant intensity — from the sacred wonder of O magnum mysterium to the jubilant brightness of Hodie Christus natus est. The Ave Maria of young Polish composer Michał Ziołkowski then offers a moment of harmonic purity and serenity.

In Acclamatio, Damijan Močnik unleashes a burst of sacred jubilation, where rhythmic energy and spiritual fervor meet. The luminous prayer of Pēteris Vasks, Māte Saule (“Mother Sun”), follows this intensity with a more peaceful meditation, where nature becomes a source of warmth and consolation. Richard Burchard’s O magnum mysterium revisits the theme of the Nativity in a warm and contemplative atmosphere.

The concert concludes with four Ukrainian Christmas carols (kolyadky) by Victor Kolomits, Iaroslav Karpiv, and Oleksandr Rodin — works that blend folk tradition, lyricism, and radiant joy. These vibrant pieces celebrate the miraculous birth and the clarity that shines through the depth of winter.

Through these voices — ancient and contemporary, Western and Eastern — Lux in Tenebris becomes a testament to a light that continues to shine, even when the night seems deepest.