DAYS OF EARLY MUSIC 2025 – Musical Discoveries, Historical Instruments, and Outstanding Artists
In early June 6. – 15. jún 2025, the cities of Bratislava and Svätý Jur will host the next edition of the international Days of Early Music festival, which brings to life works from earlier musical periods through historically informed performance.
With its international reputation, the festival—organized by the Music Centre and the Centre for Early Music—is the only event of its kind in Slovakia. The program will include music spanning from the Renaissance to the 19th century, featuring world premieres and works connected to the cultural history of present-day Slovakia. Over more than two decades, the festival has welcomed the most distinguished ensembles and artists from both Slovakia and the global music scene.
A Musical Discovery from Leuven
The festival opens on June 6 at the Klarisky Concert Hall in Bratislava with a performance by the acclaimed Sollazzo Ensemble. The group will present a unique program drawn from the Leuven Chansonnier, a Renaissance musical manuscript discovered as recently as 2015. Experts have compared the manuscript's significance to that of finding a previously unknown painting by Peter Paul Rubens. The concert will feature songs of love, longing, and hope, including twelve pieces found in no other known sources, interpreted by specialists in medieval and early Renaissance music under the direction of vihuela de arco player Anna Danilevskaia.
The Leuven Chansonnier is owned by the Alamire Foundation, a Belgian center for musicological research and historical music revival. The foundation’s work will be further explored during the festival in a lecture by musicologist Stef Coninx.
Musical Treasures of Slovakia in World Premieres
On Sunday, June 8, the festival moves to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Svätý Jur. The renowned Slovak early music ensemble Musica aeterna, led by Peter Zajíček, will perform sacred arias and anonymous concertos from the Piarist collection of Podolínec. This concert will be a tribute to the late musicologist Ladislav Kačic (1951–2024), who dedicated much of his research to the musical life of religious orders in Slovakia.
Audiences will hear the world premieres of works from the collection of Father Ferdinand Pankiewicz, performed by Slovak artists including soprano Lenka Máčiková.
A major cultural highlight will be the festival’s closing concert at the Church of the Most Holy Savior (Jesuit Church) in Bratislava, featuring the first complete performance of Geistliche Harmonien I. by Samuel Capricornus (1628–1665), a Baroque composer who served as music director at the Evangelical Church in Bratislava. The 1659 collection represents the peak of 17th-century sacred vocal-instrumental music, blending Italian melodic elegance with German contrapuntal tradition.
The concert will be performed by the ensemble Le nuove musiche, conducted by Jakub Mitrík, with special guest violinist Peter Spišský, concertmaster of Concerto Copenhagen. The event marks the 360th anniversary of Capricornus’s death, commemorating one of the most important composers active in the region of present-day Slovakia.
Romantic Clarinet Repertoire on Period Instruments and Bach’s Works for Flute and Harpsichord
The concert on June 11 will spotlight lesser-known yet fascinating clarinet works from the 19th century. Held at Moyzes Hall in Bratislava, the program will feature compositions by Robert Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, Henri Rabaud, Paul Jeanjean, and Niels Wilhelm Gade, performed by clarinetist Róbert Šebesta and pianist Ladislav Fančovič. The musicians will play on period instruments, including Buffet Crampon clarinets and a Bechstein piano, promising an authentic historical sound experience.
On June 13, the Dvorana Concert Hall of the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) will host a concert of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works for solo harpsichord and flute with obbligato harpsichord, performed by Belgian harpsichordist, pedagogue, and musicologist Ewald Demeyere, a Bach specialist, and Czech flutist Radka Kubínová. Their interpretation will highlight the intimate and virtuosic nature of Bach’s music, blending intellectual depth with the expressive beauty of Baroque melody.
Ewald Demeyere will also lead masterclasses at VŠMU, focusing on partimenti, basso continuo, improvisation, and ornamentation.
More Than Just Concerts
In addition to its main concert program, the festival will offer various accompanying events—including an exhibition of historical instrument reproductions—designed to deepen understanding of music history, instruments, and historically informed performance practices.
Days of Early Music 2025 once again confirms its role not only as an artistic festival but also as an educational project of great cultural importance.
More information and the full program: www.hc.sk
Tickets available via Ticketportal.
Admission to the concerts on June 8 and June 14 is free (voluntary donations welcome).