AL QANTARAH

Troparium de Catania

Promo Music PMCD003

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Al Qantarah are an ensemble who specialise in the medieval and traditional repertoire of Sicily. The album title refers to three music manuscripts written in Sicily between 1100 and 1160 that contain the Latin liturgical chants of the period. These chants are not the usual Gregorian chants but are songs for special feast days. It is a fascinating collection,  with an important nucleus of polyphony (the earliest written examples). Some of the works are performed with unaccompanied voices and the rest use traditional instruments for accompaniment, such as bagpipes, jew's-harp, hurdy-gurdy, lute and harp. The musicians of Al Qantarah are also musicologists and teachers and their experience and knowledge provide a fascinating recording that is as close as is possible to medieval authenticity.

Michael Hingston