Perotinus: Sederunt principes

Until recently the rôle of women as composers and performers of both sacred and secular music during the Middle Ages has been seriously underestimated.

This disc, sung by the all-female group Musica Ficta, reveals how well suited to women’s voices are music from Notre-Dame in Paris and the songs of many trouvères (the northern counterparts of the troubadours of Languedoc).

The latter songs, for instance, often feature female protagonists and present different perspectives on love and life to those by their male counterparts.

Pérotin and the Ars Antiqua Winner of a Diapason D’Or (May 2007)

In all the excitement and immediacy of live performance the world-famous Hilliard Ensemble here displays the complex musical style of the Notre Dame school of around 1200 AD. They contrast this Parisian form with contemporary examples from south-western France and England.

Hilliard live 2: For Ockeghem

A tribute to the fifteenth-century master composer, Ockeghem. Interspersed with the music are parts of Guillaume Crétin’s Lament on the Death of the Late Ockeghem, Treasurer of Saint Martin of Tours, in a specially commissioned translation, read by Bob Peck.

Hilliard live 3: Antoine Brumel

This disc celebrates another late fifteenth-century composer - Antoine Brumel, who was one of the most influential composers of his generation. The disc includes his Missa Victimae paschali and Ave, virgo gloriosa.

Hilliard live 4: Guillaume Dufay

A Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance, Dufay was the central figure in the Burgundian School and was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century. This disc includes his Missa Se la Face ay Pale.

Of The Hilliard’s recordings:

“… eloquence of worshipful music, winding through some amazing counterpoint.” The Times

“Supremely musical and overflowing with food for thought.” The Guardian