Love to My Liking: Refrains of Desire in Gothic France

In this concert, Alkemie performs 13th-century trouvère songs, dances, and motets—the majority of which have never before been recorded, and several of which were transcribed by the ensemble from their original manuscripts. Continuing the tradition of the troubadours, the trouvères of Northern France wrote some of the most captivating vocal music of the 13th century. Their songs of public and private adoration wove together allusions both sacred and secular, creating mystical and spicy meditations on love and longing, punctuated by repeating refrains that recur across songs and texts.