STATEMENT
The Habsburg Project is a vocal and instrumental ensemble devoted to the performance of repertoire created or performed in the chapels of the Habsburg family members or persons and the institutions related to them during the Renaissance and the Early Baroque periods.
The Habsburg Project approach to the repertoire is based in Historically Informed Performance practice, but with a critical look, questioning what is relevant in performance, and endeavouring to make plausible interpretations. The project will focus on sources produced within the chapels of the Habsburg family or the ones with repertoire related to them and on the music of composers related to these chapels. Also, will pay special attention to the circulation of music in the Habsburg Empire. This gives a lot of possibilities, considering the rate and number of persons and goods that were exchanged within the Habsburg Empire; encompassing the Iberian Peninsula Kingdoms, Milan, Naples and Sicily in Italy, the Spanish America, the Low Countries, Austria and the Empire.
The Habsburg Project works exclusively from reproductions of original sources, in an attempt to overcome the limitations that the modern score format imposes on the performer. Likewise, it seeks to expand the possibilities that arise in the interpretation that are born from the knowledge of the performers and to improve on their ability to read directly from mensural notation and historical book formats, to get as close as possible to the understanding of the notation that musicians of the time might have had. Also, extemporary practices like ornamentation and improvised counterpoint have an important position in The Habsburg Project, functioning to expand the understanding of interpretation to more than just a proper reading of the musical signs.
The Habsburg Project works under a collegiate musical direction based on the model of research groups. This model of collaborative work avoids the limitations that the traditional model of musical work imposes, and makes it possible to increase the amount of information put at the service of the performance by assigning the different aspects of performance among the experts in their respective fields and sharing the results of their research in seminars. With this model, the ensemble guarantees a strong connection between research and performance. This approach is made possible by the common background in musical training of the musicians of the ensemble, and their passionate interest in research and innovation of Historically Informed Performance.
