Vajra Voices – 5 singers, Medieval harp and bells,
directed by Karen Clark, contralto
with Mary Springfels, vielle and citole
Hildegard of Bingen, Medieval French music
(Trouvère Songs, Guillaume de Machaut)
The roots of our beloved classical music spring from prehistory, from the
primordial forest of sacred chant and sung poetry illuminated by an
occasional star like Saint Hildegard of Bingen, the Twelfth Century mystic
called The Sibyl of the Rhine. Visionary composers based in Nôtre Dame
de Paris gave us intricately woven multi-part sacred music, while aristocratic
troubadours and trouvères such as Guiot de Dijon, a Thirteenth Century
Burgundian poet, sang of courtly love. A century later, Guillaume de
Machaut, the last artist equally skilled in poetry and music, created a
unique Gothic vocal architecture.
A Meet-the-Artist reception following this event welcomes donors, season
ticket and flex-pass holders.