I am a vocalist specialising in the music of the European Middle Ages with a particular fondness for non-liturgical yet spiritual music and poetry created during the 12th and 13th centuries:
a time in which man’s feet were still planted firmly on the ground, the stone of the place of worship was still cut thickly, and the faces of prophets, beasts and kings were chiseled to reflect a poised grace, patience and a transcendental stillness so profound as to make apparent, for any patient observer:
the cosmos — both within and without — is unravelling constantly,
in saecula saeculorum.
This was a time for art, conditioned by active participation, where creativity was channeled and manifested mainly by means of extemporisation and improvisation —
it evolved from an intimate love for, and knowledge of, the other.
Stillness ruled. When songs were sung and stories told, it was no ordinary event, and so when poetry was uplifted to the level of singing, the results were transformative for both performer and listener.
This mingling of motion and stillness, sound and silence, inspires me most... Softening into patience takes practice. Yet the music that unfolds as a result of such patience rewards us with a grace we might not have considered possible.
Below:
Fortis atque amara // An anonymous Frankish sequence // 9th century
Performed and recorded live at Festival Radovljica, SI in August of 2021.
Accompanied by Norbert Rodenkirchen and Ian Harrison as part of Sequentia's program titled 'Hus in Himile'.
The text was translated by Peter Dronke.