Cantrix

NOTE: All of the music on this program comes from the Ensemble Peregrina directed by Agnieszka Budsińska-Bennett. 

The word cantrix in Latin denotes a singer. Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, known for her love of research, rummaging through monastery libraries and pulling real wonders out of them, this time will take us on a journey through the Spanish royal female monasteries in Siegena (Sisters Hospitallers) and Las Huelgas (Cistercian nuns). The programme was designed around the figure of St John the Baptist – today slightly overshadowed by a large number of popular saints, but in the Middle Ages extremely revered throughout the Christian world. The works found in both monasteries date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. During the concert we will be able to hear works in chorale style, but also those presenting early polyphony, referring to the famous Notre Dame style. Especially for the Misteria Paschalia Festival in cooperation with the Order of Malta and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the concert will be recorded in the Commandery of the Order of St. John in Switzerland dating back to the 12th century.

The liturgical pieces on the new Raumklang CD “Cantrix” tell of the life of St. John the Baptist, patron of the Order of Malta, which this year celebrates the 900th anniversary of its official recognition by the Pope as a sovereign order. The veneration of St. John was widespread in Europe and Byzantium in the early Middle Ages. His particular role as the herald of the Redeemer and his kinship with Christ and the Virgin Mary made him a popular subject in music and the visual arts.

With the present program, ensemble Peregrina & Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett bring to life again the tradition of the singing nuns from the royal convents of Sigena (Hospitallers) and Las Huelgas (Cistercians). The pure, clear women’s voices are accompanied by the instrumental improvisations of virtuoso vielle player Baptiste Romain and Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett (harp).