Collegium 1704

The choir loft of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Old Brno is closely connected with the childhood and youth of Leoš Janáček. He sang there regularly as a chorister and later served as choirmaster. His teacher, choirmaster and head of the foundation of the Augustinian abbey, Pavel Křížkovský, was a great advocate of the so-called Cecilian movement – a reform of church music aiming to cleanse it of Classicist and especially Romantic layers, revive Gregorian chant, perform works from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and compose music close to the so-called Palestrina style. The young Leoš Janáček shared the same passion for this movement. It is therefore not surprising that both Křížkovský and later Janáček introduced at the Old Brno choir loft not only contemporary representatives of Cecilianism, but also composers such as Orlando di Lasso and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Church modes also influenced Janáček’s musical thinking, while Palestrina, as a kind of archetype of church music, shaped the work of Johann Sebastian Bach.