59.00 PLN

CD:

Nr kat.: KUK95
Label  : K&K Verlagsanstalt

Music and Poetry from the spiritual world of the Middle Ages, performed by the Ensemble for Early Music 'Les Menestrels' Works by Gherardello de Florenzia (1310-1370), Guillaume de Machault (c. 1300-1377) Hermann, Münch von Salzburg (2nd part of 14th century), Heinrich von Mügeln (14th century), Guillaume Dufay (1400-1474), Alfonso el Sabio (1221-1284), Johannes Bassart (middle of 15th century), Kolmarer Liederhandschrift (15th century), Oswald von Wolkenstein (c. 1377-1445), Nicolaus Apel (c. 1470-1537), Codex Montpellier (13th century), Codex Squarcialupi (14th century) et. al. A concert recording from the church of the German UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn Monastery HD Recording · DDD · c. 73 Minutes Play and pleasure are necessary to the sustenance of human life. However, all services useful to human sustenance must be regarded as permissible. Therefore, the services of menestrels, which are intended to provide cheer, are not a forbidden thing, provided that they are not in a state of sin, and they exercise moderation in their playing - namely that they use no hateful words and do not begin playing during work or at forbidden times. And those who support the menestrels are not committing sin! Rather, they deal justly when they give them for their services that which is their due. "As stated above..." from: Summa II, quaestio 168, Article 3 Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 - 1274) ---------------------------------- Texts and music from the spiritual world of the European Middle Ages form the subject matter of this programme, which the Les Menestrels Ensemble has put together specially for this performance held in the monastery church at Maulbronn. One is astonished by the abundant variety of language and subject matter on offer here. Yet perhaps even more astonishing is the widespread, cross-border dissemination of a body of religious and cultural thought that flourished outside church walls. In today’s monotonous popular culture, shaped as it is by the dogma that what sells is what matters, cultural and human values no longer enjoy pride of place. Linguistic standardisation is pursued aggressively, and dialects, expressions and cultural resonances travel beyond regional borders in only the rarest of cases. In the song as cultivated in the Middle Ages, however, we find a linguistically multifaceted culture; one that is, in this sense, truly more European. Modern media have wrought little improvement. On the contrary, inquisitorial surveillance has found its match in the uniformity-enforcing filter of a profit-oriented business management "culture." The Church may well have imposed strict guidelines, as Klaus Walter describes in the notes below, but at least the themes that were the focus of artistic creation were those by which human beings are moved, and wit and subtlety challenged the human intellect. Josef-Stefan Kindler