With a nomination for a Grammy Award, Trio Mediaeval’s album An Old Hall Ladymass received one of the highest accolades in the world of music. This female ensemble has been igniting stages around the world with a unique combination of mediaeval polyphony and contemporary repertoire since the beginning of the millennium. This time, the three singers guide us through early English polyphony interwoven with contemporary compositions and underpinned by Catalina Vincens’ organetto. The music tumbles from angelic harmony through searing dissonance to sounds that seem both familiar and strange. The masses and Marian motets included in the Old Hall Manuscript – one of the most important sources of mediaeval polyphony – remained hidden for almost 400 years, before reappearing at the end of the 19th century in a Catholic seminary. The manuscript turned out to be the richest source of 15th century English music ever discovered. The often-anonymous composers have been given a new voice in dialogue with new work by David Lang and Marianne Reidarsdatter Eriksen.
Program
Music from the Old Hall Manuscript by J. Cooke, L. Power, T. Byttering, Aleyn and others | D. Lang: Alleluia Amen | M. Reidarsdatter Eriksen: Sol lucet
Performers
Linn Andrea Fuglseth, Anna Maria Friman, Jorunn Lovise Husan, singers | Catalina Vicens, organetto