From Chant to Organum: Improvised Polyphony of the Middle Ages
Featuring Lionheart, male vocal sextet
From Manuscript to Concert Hall: Revival of
Fifteenth-Century Chansons
Featuring Asteria, voices and lute
Unreserved Seating
Just as a conservator strips away layers of yellowed
varnish to reveal a painting’s original vigor, performers
of medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and classical music
apply historical conventions and practices—such as
reading from original manuscripts and using period
instruments—to allow musical repertory to ring true,
revealing each score as conceived by its composer.
This daylong exploration of early music, coordinated
and hosted by Frederick Renz, features lecture-demonstrations
by some of New York’s most notable
exponents of historically informed performance and
showcases instruments from the Museum’s collection.
This event celebrates the reopening of The André Mertens Galleries
for Musical Instruments and features instruments from the
Museum’s collection.
This series is made possible in part through a grant to the Early
Music Foundation from the National Endowment for the Arts and
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
