CD tracks, music pieces, text transcriptions and the booklet of pieces can be found in the Resources section of this website.

 

The Cantrix was a female singer at the Monastery of Sijena. Her duties were set out in the Rule of Sijena (1188). The roles of two other female singers, known as the Precentrix and the Paraphonista, were also defined in the Rule.

 

The Rule provides a detailed description of how the bells, which are musical instruments in their own right, should be used within the monastery. Remarkably, the Rule describes these musical functions in such detail that it seems as if the monastery was resounding with singing and bells all the time. As we discovered later, the acoustics of the monastery church are overwhelmingly beautiful. Queen Sancha and her husband, King Alfonso II of Aragon, were patrons of the arts and music. Peire Vidal, one of the most famous troubadours of this period, was generously supported by the Aragonese rulers, a favor he returned by praising Alfonso II's decision to marry Queen Sancha, a young woman from Castile, rather than Princess Eudoxia and her caravans of gold from Constantinople.

 

The central figure in the project is St John the Baptist, the patron saint of the Hospitallers.

 

By selecting pieces from the neighboring royal monastery of Las Huelgas in Castile, Ensemble Peregrina once again captured a comprehensive picture of the medieval landscape of Aragon, Castile, the Hospitallers, and the Cistercians in their musical performance.