For seventeen years, Guillaume de Machaut, the icon of ars nova, worked at the court of King John the Blind of Bohemia. His work has not left a single trace in local musical sources, but Machaut’s own music reveals a profound knowledge of Bohemian repertoire. Led by Barbora Kabátková, Tiburtina Ensemble weaves a web of sound from anonymous, monophonic Bohemian songs to the Virgin Mary and de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame, the very first entirely polyphonic mass. The shift from monophony to polyphony, swinging from east to west (and back again!) is given extra allure in the unusual setting with all female voices: a seldom heard but historically justified choice that opens up new perspectives on this pearl of mediaeval heritage.
Performers
Hana Blažíková, Daniela Cermáková, Barbora Kabátková, Terry Wey, Ivana Bilej Brouková, Tereza Böhmová, Anna Chadimová Havlíková, Kamila Mazalová, vocals | Barbora Kabátková, artistic direction