Fons luminis: Codex Las Huelgas (Sacred Vocal Music from the 13th Century)
6/1/2018, 21 Tracks, 1:04:41
Featuring
Dominique Vellard
Ensemble Gilles Binchois
Anonymous
Did you know?
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Compositional Technique
The Las Huelgas codex includes unique pieces, pieces with concordances only in the Iberian Peninsula, and a large proportion of songs from the famous Notre-Dame School of Paris.
Composition History
The "codex Las Huelgas," dated to the 1340s, contains 186 liturgical and paraliturgical songs, some of which were part of the monastery's repertoire for over a century.
Interpretation
Marginal notes in the codex, such as "let any beard sing me who would like to sing me," suggest that both nuns and male clerics and chaplains performed the polyphonic music.
Interpretation
The conductor, Dominique Vellard, discovered that the scribes of the Las Huelgas manuscript used elements of mensural notation to indicate rhythmic inflections in monodies, which is a significant aid for interpretation.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded by Little Tribeca in the Basilica of Vézelay, France, from September 18 to 23, 2017.
Album & Artwork
The album title, "Fons Luminis Codex Las Huelgas," refers to a manuscript from the Santa Maria la Real monastery of Las Huelgas.
Historical Context
The Las Huelgas Reales monastery, where the codex originated, was founded in the late 12th century by Alfonso VIII of Castile and his wife, Leonor Plantagenet, and became the most important female monastery in the kingdom.
