Ensemble Micrologus
Encyclopedia
Ensemble Micrologus is an Italian
group that performs vocal and instrumental medieval music
, including both religious and secular pieces from the 12th to the 16th century in their repertoire.
The group was founded in 1984 by musicians who had participated for several years in the Calendimaggio medieval festival in Assisi
(Umbria
). The four founder members were:
Additional performers include Ulrich Pfeifer (vocals and hurdy gurdy
).
Through research into manuscript
s, organology
, and iconography
, and a familiarity with ethnographic
research on the musical traditions of the Mediterranean, they revive the sound of the Middle Ages, playing reconstructions of ancient instruments as well as using period wardrobe and scenery. They perform more than forty concerts worldwide annually, introducing one or two new shows every year, as well as collaborating in movies and theater productions, such as the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning Mediterreneo
. In 2007 and 2008 they toured with Myth, a theater-dance show produced by Belgian choregrapher Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. They also teach medieval music courses at the Festival of Urbino
, the Royaumont Abbey, and the Cité de la Musique in Paris
.
Over the past 26 years they recorded more than 20 performances on the labels Opus 111 (later bought by Naïve) and Zig Zag Territoires, which have received numerous awards:
Other recordings that have received awards are Napoli Aragonese (2001), Laudario di Cortona (2001), El Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (2003), and Le Jeu de Robin et Marion
by composer Adam de la Halle
(2004).
Homepage in Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
group that performs vocal and instrumental medieval music
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
, including both religious and secular pieces from the 12th to the 16th century in their repertoire.
The group was founded in 1984 by musicians who had participated for several years in the Calendimaggio medieval festival in Assisi
Assisi
- Churches :* The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253...
(Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
). The four founder members were:
- Patrizia Bovi (vocals and harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
), - Adolfo Broegg (1961-2006) (luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, psalteryPsalteryA psaltery is a stringed musical instrument of the harp or the zither family. The psaltery of Ancient Greece dates from at least 2800 BC, when it was a harp-like instrument...
and citola), - Goffredo Degli Esposti (fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, bombarde and bagpipesBagpipesBagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
) - Gabriele Russo (viela, rebecRebecThe rebecha is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.- Origins :The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries...
and lyreLyreThe lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
).
Additional performers include Ulrich Pfeifer (vocals and hurdy gurdy
Hurdy gurdy
The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin...
).
Through research into manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s, organology
Organology
Organology is the science of musical instruments and their classification. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classification...
, and iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, and a familiarity with ethnographic
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
research on the musical traditions of the Mediterranean, they revive the sound of the Middle Ages, playing reconstructions of ancient instruments as well as using period wardrobe and scenery. They perform more than forty concerts worldwide annually, introducing one or two new shows every year, as well as collaborating in movies and theater productions, such as the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning Mediterreneo
Mediterraneo (film)
Mediterraneo is an Italian film that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1991. The film is set during World War II, and regards a group of Italian soldiers who become stranded on a Greek island and are left behind by the war...
. In 2007 and 2008 they toured with Myth, a theater-dance show produced by Belgian choregrapher Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. They also teach medieval music courses at the Festival of Urbino
Urbino
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
, the Royaumont Abbey, and the Cité de la Musique in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Over the past 26 years they recorded more than 20 performances on the labels Opus 111 (later bought by Naïve) and Zig Zag Territoires, which have received numerous awards:
- 1996 - Diapason d'OrDiapason d'OrThe Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine....
de l'Année for the album Landini e la Musica Fiorentina - 1999 - Diapason d'OrDiapason d'OrThe Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine....
de l'Année for the album Alla Napolitana (in collaboration with Cappella della Pietà de' TurchiniCappella della Pietà de' TurchiniThe Cappella della Pietà de' Turchini is an early music ensemble based in Naples and dedicated to the recovery of Neapolitan musical heritage, primarily from the baroque era....
) - 2000 - Best recording of the year from Goldberg Magazine, for Cantico della Terra
Other recordings that have received awards are Napoli Aragonese (2001), Laudario di Cortona (2001), El Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (2003), and Le Jeu de Robin et Marion
Jeu de Robin et Marion
The Jeu de Robin et Marion is reputedly the earliest French secular play with music, and is the most famous work of Adam de la Halle.The story is a dramatization of a traditional genre of medieval French song, the pastourelle. This genre typically tells of an encounter between a knight and a...
by composer Adam de la Halle
Adam de la Halle
Adam de la Halle, also known as Adam le Bossu was a French-born trouvère, poet and musician, whose literary and musical works include chansons and jeux-partis in the style of the trouveres, polyphonic rondel and motets in the style of early liturgical polyphony, and a musical play, "The Play of...
(2004).
Homepage in Italian