FORGOTTEN BAROQUE PEARLS RESTORED
As a vocal and instrumental music company, the new Ensemble Gloriosus specialises in baroque music that is little known to the public. Gloriosus consists of professionally trained singers and musicians who have set themselves a common goal: to restore forgotten and sometimes misunderstood sacred music from the Baroque era and even to breathe new life into it.
Under the direction of artistic director Patrick Debrabandere, both vocalists and instrumentalists strive to give the music a new dynamic and refreshing timbre without compromising the oeuvre of the master composers of yesteryear and the greatness of their oeuvre. We go for pure emotional expression and depth and want to create connection between the performers themselves and the audience. So that making music and experiencing music becomes a celebration, just as the masters envisioned with their hymns and cantatas.
We currently offer a varied of musical programmes.
NEWEST PRODUCTION IN THE SPOTLIGHT
AUS DER TIEFE
The power of the chorale in the Musci of
BUXTEHUDE, BACH and FASCH
2026, NOVEMBER &
A simple melody — the Lutheran chorale — formed the beating heart of musical life in the German Baroque. From these seemingly modest hymns grew rich and deeply expressive sound worlds, in which composers such as Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach unfolded their most profound musical imagination.
In Aus der Tiefe, Ensemble Gloriosus invites the listener on a musical journey from inner reflection to radiant praise. The choral voices intertwine in lush polyphony, while the instruments alternately support the chorale with strength and subtly weave around it. At times the melody emerges clearly and recognisably in the choir; at others it lies hidden within the instrumental lines or inner voices of the music — a constant spiritual thread running through the programme.
At the heart of the programme are Bach’s masterpieces such as Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir and O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, framed by expressive chorale settings by Buxtehude. Together, they reveal how the chorale can be transformed: from simple congregational song into a deeply moving musical meditation.
Aus der Tiefe is a concert of intense sonority, spiritual depth and Baroque splendour.
Ensemble Gloriosus performs this music with a focused, transparent choral sound, in a line-up that both reflects and brings to life historical performance practice.
Let yourself be carried away into a world where faith, poetry and music merge into pure Baroque beauty.
DRESDEN ANNO 1724-1726
JAN DISMAS ZELENKA
Duration: 70 minutes
The Bohemian Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka spent the last thirty years of his life at the court of Dresden, where he served as Kapellmeister. Between 1724 and 1726 the court experienced a particularly flourishing musical period, shaped by a mutually stimulating environment: the court provided the resources and audience for Zelenka’s creativity, while the composer brought a spark of originality and imagination to Dresden’s musical life — a quality that still feels strikingly modern today.
Te Deum (ZWV 145 | composed in 1724)
During this Dresden period Zelenka composed his impressive five-part Te Deum. Majestic and festive in character, this work was written for an extended ensemble including soloists, choir and orchestra, perfectly reflecting the splendour and artistic ambitions of the court. The composition highlights Zelenka’s remarkable versatility and the cultural aspirations of Dresden, where choral music held a central place and helped strengthen the city’s reputation as one of Europe’s leading musical centres.
Vespers: Dixit Dominus (ZWV 68 | 1726) and Magnificat (ZWV 108 | 1725 and ZWV 107 | 1727)
The Dixit Dominus and the Magnificat were considered among the most important elements of the Vespers service — a tradition that Zelenka not only knew well but also enriched with several of his own compositions.
His Dixit Dominus (ZWV 68) was written for the Catholic court church in Dresden. At the time, Zelenka served as double bassist in the outstanding Dresden court orchestra and had already been assisting the ailing Kapellmeister Johann David Heinichen. After Heinichen’s death, Zelenka succeeded him as church composer.
He thus became responsible for the court’s liturgical music, which at the time was performed in a former theatre within the royal palace. His duties included composing new works as well as directing performances of his own music and that of other composers during various services.
In these works Zelenka elegantly combines tradition with a more modern style strongly influenced by Italian music. This allowed him to shape and develop his own musical and compositional ideas.
These compositions can therefore be seen as examples of a style that breaks with older conventions to create a new musical language: a festive orchestral sound with natural trumpets and timpani, alternating solo and choral passages, and a multi-section structure reminiscent of a large-scale concerto with extended tutti and solo movements.
Available for booking from November 2025
ALLELUJA! LOBET DEN HERREN!
(duration 100 minutes)
From expressive madrigalesque unison to monumental polychorality.
During the second half of the 16th century, the music scene was characterized by a search for forms of expression and instrumentation. In this programme, we look for compositional and instrumental trends, but above all the characteristics within the European musical context of that century, and how
long that influence remains noticeable. Each work in itself forms a unique pearl, which, with the right context with contemporaries, acquire a connecting, explanatory function.
The main composers of the programme are Heinrich Schütz, who was mainly active in Dresden, and in the first part Joan Cererols, one of the most important composers of the Spanish Montserrat. The resulting Catalan traditions can be seen in the compositions by Lopez and Valls as well. The broader framework, from which composers got their inspiration, can be found in their generation’s teachers in Italy, such as Monteverdi and Gabrieli. We illustrate the later compositional evolution with a motet by Welter, whose work still uses the same set of instruments. Compositions that are rarely performed and that completely fit the time frame in terms of text-painting treatment and narrative instrumentation.
The first part, elaborated around the idea of a vespers service, starts with the monodic O Süsser, O gütiger by Heinrich Schütz, which synthesises the harmonic evolution in a nutshell, and moreover reflects the baroque expressions. We discover throughout the programme how this preceded and took shape. The harbinger of the double choir returns in the start of the second movement with the two-part Ego Dormio by Monteverdi. In this part, the influence of the Italian masters is characterised in the formal and instrumental evolution that we find in Welter's music. To conclude everything, we bring the festive four-choir Alleluja! Lobet den Herren in seinem Heiligtum by Heinrich Schütz.
Bookable from October 2024
MAGISTERIAL BAROQUE CANTATAS BY TELEMANN, DURANTE AND HANDEL
(duration: 70 minutes)
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland | G.P. Telemann
Magnificat in B | F. Durante
Meine Seele erhebt den Herrn | G.P. Telemann
O Praise the Lord with One Consent | G.F. Händel
"A Musical Journey through Germany, Italy, and England – United in Baroque"
The common thread of the program is the common musical characteristics that were present in the different nationalities. In this way, it illustrates the compositional connection between Germany, Italy and England. In the opening cantata, we highlight Telemann's Nun komm, der heiden Heiland, which was composed in 1714 for the first week of Advent and commissioned by the court of Saxe-Eisenach. Stylistically, we find a lot of Sicilian rhythm in this work and the use of oboe, which was imposed on Telemann by the court.
In the transition to Durante, we find the Neapolitan thought again. He was a student of Alessandro Scarlatti, himself a teacher of, among others, Pergolesi and one of the main representatives of the so-called Neapolitan School. In 1767, Rousseau praised him as the supreme master of harmony in Italy and the world. His famous Magnificat in si klein was still performed at the end of the 19th century and was highly acclaimed. Durante contributed greatly to the development of 18th-century Neapolitan church and instrumental music.
The composition Meine Seele erhebt den Hernn (or the German Magnificat) by Telemann – presumably also performed by Bach – has a festive instrumental setting that enhances and expresses the vocal colla parte.
The concert closes with Handel's festive anthem O praise the Lord with one consent. This work has a sparkling character and a varied orchestral accompaniment. Handel borrows older material from his Italian period. The line-up for solo voices, choir, oboe, strings and continuo was tailored to the musical resources of the small estate, something that is recognisable in this time.
AVE REGINA CAELORUM | A LITANY AND VESPERS SERVICE BY JOHANN CASPAR FERDINAND FISCHER
(duration: 75 minutes)
In 1701 a volume of vesper psalms by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer appeared in Augsburg (1656-1746). Patrick Debrabandere immersed himself in this voluminous book and put together a vespers service, most likely in Schlackenwerth, Germany, where Fischer was Kapellmeister for 25 years. The vespers service is introduced by two litanies and three hymns in honour of the Virgin Mary. They come from Fischer's opus 5, which was published in 1711.
During his training in Dresden, Fischer not only focused on strict counterpoint but also came into extensive contact with Lully's solemn French style. In addition, he - more than his contemporaries - escaped the dominating brio of Italian music. Fischer's style is not only elegant and transparent but also captivates with a well-thought-out and powerfully constructed counterpoint. Like Buxtehude, Pachelbel and Kuhnau, Fischer paved the way for JS Bach and GF Handel.
FISCHER AND HANDEL
(duration: 85 minutes)
The program consists of a vespers service composed by conductor and artistic director Patrick Debrabandere from the rich oeuvre of vesper psalms by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer.
The concert ends with Handel's anthem O praise the Lord with one consent (HWV 254). This anthem was composed as part of three hymns between 1717 and 1718 for Cannons, an estate near London. They take their nickname, the Chandos Anthems, from the owner of the estate, the first Duke of Chandos. This work has a festive character and a varied orchestral accompaniment. Handel borrows older material from his Italian period and his earlier works for the Chapel Royal in London – a standard procedure for this composer, who re-used particularly successful pieces as the basis for his later works. The line-up for solo voices, choir, oboe, strings and continuo was adapted to the musical resources of the small estate, which was common at the time.
For this concert, Patrick Debrabandere calls on all hands. He gathers ten professionally trained singers – including the soloists – and the six-piece instrumental ensemble for Fischer is expanded to eight instrumentalists for Handel's anthem. Together we are ready to revive the forgotten master of the German Baroque on the one hand and on the other to do justice to Handel's celebratory hymn.
BAROQUE VOICES IN THE SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS
(duration 100 minutes)
Euphonious baroque music from the 17th and 18th century in our regions
While composer names such as Vivaldi, Handel and Mozart sound familiar to many, a list of contemporaries who were active in our region tends to raise eyebrows. Fortunately, it appears to be completely out of date when musicologists from the last century state “that the Flemish no longer played a role in the history of baroque music” or that “the musical production in the Netherlands seldomly exceeds the usual mediocrity”.
It would be surprising that, on the one hand, Flemish baroque painters such as Rubens or Van Dyck were well known at home and abroad, and that, on the other hand, no music would have been composed in our region after the famous Flemish polyphonists, or that they would have been more part of (cross-pollinating) influences. After all, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there was a lot of music playing and diligent composition in our country, in which, of course, foreign influences are recognisable. What our own composers put down on paper in that period does not sound so inferior at all, and we should not forget that in those days the performers preferred to interpret contemporary and indigenous music.
Bringing compositions like these out of oblivion and doing them justice once again, is from what Ensemble Gloriosus departs. The music described can easily withstand comparison with foreign composers. This production has been developed around 17th and 18th century baroque figures from “our” regions, which we proudly resonate in the authentic setting of the baroque church of the rustic Begijnhof. The programmed composers are Hollanders, Hacqaert, Bréhy, Du Mont, De Croes and the Ghent composer Krafft.