InAlto, Pierre Bonhomme and La grande entrée

In the heart of Europe, between France and the Heilige Roomse Rijk, lay the Prince-Bishopric of Liège around 1600. It was not a quiet city: Liège was a political and religious crossroads where everything was in the service of a display of power. The ‘grandes entrées’ of Ernst and Ferdinand van Beieren – Archbishop-Electors of Cologne – were therefore a form of political theater in which everything had to radiate authority, including the triumphal arches of wood and cloth, church bells, cannon shots, expensive oaths, and impressive music. InAlto reconstructs the dramaturgy of these entries with motets, songs, and madrigals by composers around the Liège court. Jean de Castro represents the local music scene; Anton Gosswin reflects the Bavarian connections; René del Mel, Pierre Bonhomme, and Bernardino Mosto illustrate the cosmopolitan taste of the court. The festive highlight is the majestic Te Deum by Jean Guyot.