In 2015, a small auction house in Brussels sold a lot consisting of a statue, an illuminated initial and a songbook to an art dealer. The songbook was purchased by the King Baudouin Foundation and entrusted to the Alamire Foundation in Leuven, the international centre for the study of music in the Low Countries, for study. The result exceeded everyones expectations: it turned out to be a totally unknown, complete, late 15th century chansonnier in its original brocade binding. It is extremely rare to find sources like this, especially ones that have been preserved in their original form. The last comparable discovery dates back to almost a century ago.

The elegant manuscript, illuminated with coloured initials, consists of 96 parchment pages. It opens with a spiritual work in Latin, but then includes 49 songs in French, all of which are secular. The manuscript does not state the names of any of the composers. Because 38 pieces are also found in other chansonniers from the same period, however, it has been possible to identify them and attribute them to leading 15th century Franco-Flemish masters, such as Gilles Binchois, Johannes Ockeghem and Antoine Busnoys. Twelve compositions in the manuscript are unique and completely unknown. Further musicological research will be required to reveal the identity of these pieces.

There is more than one reason why the Leuven Chansonnier is a particularly important find: it deepens our understanding of the knowledge in circulation at the time and the reception of 15th century secular songs, it is a new source of known, sometimes famous compositions, and it adds no less than twelve undiscovered pieces to our late mediaeval musical repertoire.

The Leuven Chansonnier has been fully digitised by the Alamire Digital Lab. You can see it online at www.idemdatabase.org. A commentated facsimile edition was published by WPG in 2017, as the first in a new series, the Leuven Library of Music in Facsimile. The editors-in chief, David J. Burn and Bart Demuyt, intend to create a series of high-quality reproductions of original musical sources of exceptional aesthetic, musical and cultural value.

The world première of all the music in the songbook (including the unique works) will be performed by none less than Ensemble Leones, Sollazzo Ensemble, Park Collegium and Huelgas.

25 August, 2018 20:00 -- amuz

In 2015, a small auction house in Brussels sold a lot consisting of a statue, an illuminated initial and a songbook to an art dealer. The songbook was purchased by the King Baudouin Foundation and entrusted to the Alamire Foundation in Leuven, the international centre for the study of music in the Low Countries, for study. The result exceeded everyones expectations: it turned out to be a totally unknown, complete, late 15th century chansonnier in its original brocade binding. It is extremely rare to find sources like this, especially ones that have been preserved in their original form. The last comparable discovery dates back to almost a century ago.

The elegant manuscript, illuminated with coloured initials, consists of 96 parchment pages. It opens with a spiritual work in Latin, but then includes 49 songs in French, all of which are secular. The manuscript does not state the names of any of the composers. Because 38 pieces are also found in other chansonniers from the same period, however, it has been possible to identify them and attribute them to leading 15th century Franco-Flemish masters, such as Gilles Binchois, Johannes Ockeghem and Antoine Busnoys. Twelve compositions in the manuscript are unique and completely unknown. Further musicological research will be required to reveal the identity of these pieces.

There is more than one reason why the Leuven Chansonnier is a particularly important find: it deepens our understanding of the knowledge in circulation at the time and the reception of 15th century secular songs, it is a new source of known, sometimes famous compositions, and it adds no less than twelve undiscovered pieces to our late mediaeval musical repertoire.

The Leuven Chansonnier has been fully digitised by the Alamire Digital Lab. You can see it online at www.idemdatabase.org. A commentated facsimile edition was published by WPG in 2017, as the first in a new series, the Leuven Library of Music in Facsimile. The editors-in chief, David J. Burn and Bart Demuyt, intend to create a series of high-quality reproductions of original musical sources of exceptional aesthetic, musical and cultural value.

The world première of all the music in the songbook (including the unique works) will be performed by none less than Ensemble Leones, Sollazzo Ensemble, Park Collegium and Huelgas.

25 August, 2018 22:15 -- amuz

In the room there was a cupboard.
In the cupboard there was a door.
Behind the door there was a drawer.
In the drawer there was a box.
And in the box there was a …

Curiosa brings the wonderful world of the Baroque to young children and their parents. It is a sensory cabinet of curiosities full of mysterious objects, images and music. A room full of wonders to explore, discover and experiment with together. Musicians guide you through these bizarre collections with musical gems by Jacopo Peri, Giulio Caccini and Claudio Monteverdi. They join you on your voyage of discovery with the very earliest opera arias, exciting madrigals and instrumental pieces from Rubens’ time.

The production lasts about 40 minutes.

26 August, 2018 10:00 -- hetpaleis

To coincide with Laus Polyphoniae’s 25th anniversary in 2018, the theme of the annual polyphony summer school will be ‘Celebrations’. We will look at the greatest polyphonists of the 15th and 16th centuries: Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Heinrich Isaac, Jacobus Clemens non Papa and Orlandus Lassus. At this summer school, advanced amateurs and aspiring professional musicians receive a week of coaching from international experts, using the historical sources to make music. To give their work extra lustre, this years singers will be accompanied by trombones and shawms, led by Wim Becu of Oltremontano. The results of an intensive week can be heard at this closing concert.

26 August, 2018 11:00 -- ku-leuven-campus-carolus-antwerpen

In the room there was a cupboard.
In the cupboard there was a door.
Behind the door there was a drawer.
In the drawer there was a box.
And in the box there was a …

Curiosa brings the wonderful world of the Baroque to young children and their parents. It is a sensory cabinet of curiosities full of mysterious objects, images and music. A room full of wonders to explore, discover and experiment with together. Musicians guide you through these bizarre collections with musical gems by Jacopo Peri, Giulio Caccini and Claudio Monteverdi. They join you on your voyage of discovery with the very earliest opera arias, exciting madrigals and instrumental pieces from Rubens’ time.

The production lasts about 40 minutes.

26 August, 2018 14:00 -- hetpaleis

In the room there was a cupboard.
In the cupboard there was a door.
Behind the door there was a drawer.
In the drawer there was a box.
And in the box there was a …

Curiosa brings the wonderful world of the Baroque to young children and their parents. It is a sensory cabinet of curiosities full of mysterious objects, images and music. A room full of wonders to explore, discover and experiment with together. Musicians guide you through these bizarre collections with musical gems by Jacopo Peri, Giulio Caccini and Claudio Monteverdi. They join you on your voyage of discovery with the very earliest opera arias, exciting madrigals and instrumental pieces from Rubens’ time.

The production lasts about 40 minutes.

26 August, 2018 16:00 -- hetpaleis