Medieval ensemble Stella Maris came to Warwick on the 2nd March 2011 to perform a selection of medieval music and to answer questions on music and performance.

Stella Maris was formed in 2000 at the University of Birmingham. They are an ensemble of singers, instrumentalists, composers and scholars, who focus on medieval and Renaissance English, French and Spanish music. Click here to visit the Stella Maris website.

The programme for the concert comprised a mixture of secular and sacred works, mainly from thirteenth-century northern France. Several are from the ‘motet’ genre, in which contrasting lyrics are layered together, producing a song that is polytextual, polythematic, polyphonic and multilingual. There are also two troubadour love chansons from Occitania and some pieces from England (including a very British complaint about the weather!), in Old English, Latin, and Anglo-Norman. The programme is punctuated by some medieval instrumental music on harp, vielle and recorder and frame drum, including an English Estampie, and a fourteenth-century Italian piece, Lamento di Tristan/La Rotta.

Click on the 'play' button below to see the full concert and Q&A session (approx. 90 mins in total)

Click here for the PowerPoint slides accompanying the concert

Click here for the full programme, with notes 

 

This concert was organised by Emma Campbell with the generous support of the French Department, the Warwick University Music Centre, and a team of volunteers (Julien Levallois, Liam Lewis, Vicky Turner, Gabriella Addivinola).