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Silver Jubilee Programmes
A Medieval Grand Tour
Arts Ancient and Modern
At the Court of the Virgin Mary
Bruno of Toul
Champagne and Burgundy
Christmas
Echoes from an Old Hall
The Combat of Life and Death
The Pilgrimage of Man
The Testament of St Gregory
The Tournament of Love
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Ab ora summa nuncius (anon) English, late 13th century from our Masters of the Rolls cd.
Flos floriger (anon) from The Earliest Songbook in England cd.
O Jerusalem (Hildegard) from the Jerusalem: Vision of Peace cd.
Joieux de cuer (Solage) from The Medieval Romantics cd.
Missa Caput - Agnus Dei (anon) from The Spirits of England and France - 4 cd.
A solis ortus (anon) from The Spirits of England and France - 5 cd.
Ave, generosa by Hildegard of Bingen from the cd A feather on the breath of God.
The Kyrie from Missa de Feria by Pierra de la Rue from the cd Pierra de la Rue: Missa de Feria, Missa Sancta Dei Genitrix.
Dueil angoisseux (Binchois) from The Castle of Fair Welcome cd.

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The Pilgrimage of Man

Music from the time of the crusades

Devotion to the Holy City of Jerusalem found its keenest expression in acts of pilgrimage, and the most momentous pilgrimages were the armed expeditions, undertaken at the instigation of Pope Urban II, which we have now come to call (in accordance with later medieval usage) the ‘Crusades’.

Much music associated with pilgrimage came to be written between the First Crusade and capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and the final fall of the Crusader states to Islam in 1291. We present a selection of music from England, France and Spain, including works composed for the coronation of the best-known English crusader, King Richard the Lionheart. Iberian songs from around 1230 by Martim Codax show pilgrimage from the point of view of the women who were left behind. Also connected with pilgrimage, this time to Santiago de Compostela, we include sacred Iberian works from the Codex Calixtinus. From the timeless spirituality of plainchant, through the heartfelt lamentation for those lost on Crusade, belligerence against the enemy or exultation upon victory, we have here a vivid cross-section of medieval musical emotion.

You can listen to the following pieces from this programme:

  • Anglia planctus itera    Lower quality, phone modem   Higher quality, broadband
  • Pange melos lacrimosum    Lower quality, phone modem   Higher quality, broadband