Overview
A concert will be held on Friday October 19 to bring to life the Music Codex of Cyprus (on loan from Turin), currently on display at the Leventis Museum in Nicosia.
The group Ex Silentio will take guests on a journey through the royal courts of the time, by way of the secular music of the Codex and other endeavours of Medieval Europe.
The event will start at 18:30 with a lecture on the Music Codex and the concert will follow the informational session at 19:30.
The musical journey into the autumn of the Middle Ages
In the words of Ex Silentio themselves: “The Turin Manuscript, along with the renowned Chantilly Codex, offer prime examples of the highly refined, complex Ars Subtilior, a scholarly, subtle musical language in the autumn of the Middle Ages. The very cultivation of such repertory in the court of Cyprus bespeaks a rich musical life of excellent taste”.
The music performance “A musical journey into the autumn of the Middle Ages” approaches this unknown albeit charming music through the use of historical instruments with an eye to rendering the spirit of the time and its echochromatic wealth. Emphasis is placed on anecdotal diphone and triphone pieces of the Codex in the popular forms virelai and rondeau.
Performing for Ex Silentio are: Fani Antonelou – vocals, Dimitris Kountouras – Medieval flutes; Electra Miliadou – Medieval viela and Flora Papadopoulou – Gothic harp. Dimitris Kountouras will be conducting.
More about the manuscript of the Music Codex of Cyprus
The Music Codex of Cyprus in Turin is a valuable source of unique information about the polyphonic music of Medieval Europe. It is unusually large and includes colour miniatures.
The Codex consists of five distinct parts. Some are of a purely religious character, such as the chants for the Offices of St Hylarion and of St Anne, whilst other include secular compositions, such as virellais and rondeaux ballads. The person who compiled and composed the various parts must have been a musician in the court of the Lusignans, hailing from Northern France; perhaps Jean Hanelle who in 1436 is referenced as Head of Music for the Cypriot Kingdom. The manuscript must have been written between 1413 and 1434. The Codex had been part of the rich dowry of Anne Lusignan, daughter of King Janus of Cyprus, for her wedding to Louis of Savoy in 1434. The Codex was therefore transferred from Cyprus to Savoy, before being included in the collection of the Turin University Library.
A few words about the ExSilentio early music ensemble
Ex Silentio early music ensemble was created in 2001, specialising in early music and historical performance. The ensemble has worked with acclaimed artists in Greece and internationally, appearing in concerts, music theatre productions, contemporary dance performances etc. They have been featured in important festivals and chamber music series in Greece and Europe, i.e. the Medieval Festival of Early Music in Bari; the Marco Fodella festival in Milan; the Musica Antiqua da Camera in the Hague; the summer festival Alte Musik in Sankt Ruprecht in Vienna; the 1st Festival of Early Music in Nicosia, the “Megaron” in Athens and Thessaloniki; the Hellenic Festival in Athens etc. More recently they have appeared in the Swedish Festival of Old Music Tidig Musik – dagar; the Banchetto Musicale in Vilnius; the Styriarte international festival in Graz and the “Early Music in St Paul” series.
Ex Silentio has recorded music for the German companies Talanton (secular music of the 15th c.) and Carpe Diem (Mneme-Medieval music from the Mediterranean): the album has garnered the Supersonic award of the Pizzicato review, and was nominated for International Classical Music Awards.
Reservations
Due to increased interest in all the events unfolding in the context of the temporary exhibition, you are kindly asked to timely reserve a place both for the music event and the lecture. Contact us: Tel: +357 22 661475 / email: [email protected]
Free admission
