At the Court of the Virgin Mary

The story of the composition of the “Salve Regina”

The cult of the Virgin, the "Queen of Heaven", was hugely popular throughout Catholic northern Europe during the Middle Ages. As a paragon of all the feminine virtues, and as a mediator between humans and God, Mary has been granted by the church her own unique status, somewhere between adoration (as paid to God) and veneration (as paid to the saints). A vast corpus of sacred music is connected with her, either in settings of her great canticle the Magnificat or in antiphons such as the well-known Salve Regina      .

With this programme we explore the medieval repertory of French and English Marian chant and polyphony. It is tender, devotional music, full of imagery and colour. The ensemble also presents the first performances in modern times of the great plainchant morality poem Pange Lingua: Cor Letare, a kind of medieval “soap-opera”, telling the story of the origin of the Marian antiphon Salve Regina and portraying the perils of disobedience to the monastic rule.

You can listen to the following pieces from this programme:

• Ave, generosa       
• Virgo plena gratie