Landini: Che pena è quest’ al cor

The fourteenth century was a time of important innovations; notation harmony, polyphony and developments in rhythm. Alta Musica was founded in 1985 to promote the research and performance of medieval wind music. They now perform all kinds of medieval music ranging from music of the troubadors to masses.

The award wining and worldwide famous vocal ensemble Gothic Voices travel to Italy and the origins of its impressive polyphonic music: A Laurel for Landini – 14th Century Italy’s Greatest Composer.

This disc presents the group performing music by the Italian composer Francesco Landini, one of the most prominent and influential composers of that time and one of the most important for the development of later forms of close harmonic chanting – the forerunner of the famous Madrigal that would flourish later in the 16th century. This disc not only sets out the panorama of the time and the genius of Landini himself but also works by his contemporaries. Here Gothic Voices collaborate with the worldwide acclaimed harpist Andrew Lawrence-King .

This is an important release that will appeal to those interested in singing and early choral music to discover a whole new set and experiments from a composer that helped create the choral forms that later revolutionized the whole of western music.