The Age of Chivalry

The high middle ages was the time of crusading, of chivalry and of courtly love. To celebrate the deeds done by great men, their exploits in love both requited and unrequited, and the virtues of their fair ladies was the task of the troubadours and trouvères.

The troubadours were the poet-minstrels of parts of southern France whose songs were composed in the local dialect of Occitan. Their northern counterparts, who wrote in medieval French, were the trouvères. This was an aristocratic tradition of poetic and musical composition, and in their complicated times these men and women immortalised a view of medieval life - lords and ladies, knights and shepherdesses, unrequited courtly love - which remains influential to this day.

Not all troubadours and trouvères were in fact of noble birth. Bernart de Ventadorn was reputedly raised from the servant class because of the beauty of his voice, and ended up an associate of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Colin Muset was a professional musician who bemoaned in his songs the hardships of the life of a jobbing minstrel. At the other end of the scale were the lordly trouvères such as Conon de Bethune and Richard Coeur de Lion.

The Age of Chivalry presents the music of the troubadours and trouvères, performed on authentic instruments and covering a variety of genres and styles including some dance tunes that appear anonymously in the manuscript collections. A period story from medieval France can also be included.

The Age of Chivalry is ideal for concert series, providing a more in-depth examination of a particular artistic movement. Trouvère specialise in the music of the high middle ages, making this their music of choice!

Concerts from £700.