The Las Huelgas convent served as a retreat for royal and noble women seeking religious life and as a mausoleum for the royal family.
Compositional Technique
Many secular works in the Codex Las Huelgas were 'contrafacted' with sacred Latin texts to make them suitable for liturgical or devotional use.
Performer Biography
Anonymous 4, known for their vocal blend and virtuosity, have sold nearly two million albums of medieval, contemporary, and American music on the harmonia mundi label.
Historical Context
The Las Huelgas convent, near Burgos in north-central Spain, was founded in the early 1180s by King Alfonso VIII of Castile at the request of his wife Leonora.
Interpretation
The performers, Anonymous 4, believe the repertoire in the Codex Las Huelgas was collected for the nuns themselves to sing, despite Cistercian rules against polyphony.
Composition History
The Codex Las Huelgas, copied in the early 14th century, is an anthology of 186 works of European polyphony and monophonic Latin song from the 13th and early 14th centuries.
Historical Context
The abbesses of Las Huelgas had ecclesiastical jurisdiction, including saying mass and hearing confessions, privileges not fully rescinded until the late 19th century.
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