But though separated by 250 years of musical development, the saxophones and oboe speak and sing with similar sonorities. They are, in fact, labeled as the instruments closest to the human voice in their respective centuries. Instruments which would normally never play together are joined for the first time ever in an ensemble, and the result, a choir of similar voices, a sonority that speaks from the depths of the heart, is enchanting.
A broad range of timbres and emotions passes before our eyes and ears, as music from as far back as the 12th century is given a voice which has never before been heard.
A journey back to the 12th century and the very beginnings of European polyphony, with monumental works from Perotinus, the 14th-century Ciconia and 15th-century Dufay, and mesmerizing beauty from Spanish and French convents in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Machaut & Ars Subtilior
The first polyphonic mass written, Machaut's Missa de Notre Dame, forms the core of a program complemented by his contemporaries of the Ars Subtilior style, the rhythmically intricate music of the late 14th century in France and the north of Spain.
A collection of medieval religious and secular songs, Renaissance gems and dances from the courts and cathedrals of Europe, and popular villancicos from the renowned Cancionero de Palacio showcases the sonority of La Tricotea, while giving a broad range of festive and meditative music.
An Andalusian Renaissance
Andalusia gave birth to some of the greatest Spanish Renaissance composers. This program of motets, villancicos, dances, and festive and melancholy compositions by Morales, Guerrero, Vásquez, and Navarro offers us a fine sampling of the excellence of its music. Andalusia not only was one of the the three centers of Spanish Renaissance composition, it also experienced its own Siglo de Oro in this era.
La Tricotea extends its already unusual combination of boxwood and brass instruments performing the earliest medieval music, with an even more revolutionary extension of repertoire, that brave new world of electronics, through a commissioned composition by British contemporary Jonathan Impett, to come with a brave new program of Buxus, Brass and Bytes.
From the depths of hell's inferno to the peaceful pastures of paradise, La Tricotea introduces us to a host of creatures, large and small, from Abraxas' venomous serpent to archangels bringing good tidings, on a journey through the early world of medieval and Renaissance mystique.
