Hildegard, reimagined with humans and machines. ✨🪞
Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst’s Starmirror at @kwinstitutefcontemporaryart has just wrapped. It broke attendance records every week, and it’s heading next to Düsseldorf at @kunstsammlungnrw .
Really grateful to have contributed as musicologist, composer, arranger, typesetter, and répétiteur for this project, analysing Hildegard von Bingen’s compositional structures and extracting them with computer scientists Valentin Crogiéz and Mathieu Giraud to generate new compositions. I’m especially proud of the polyphonic textures we built together.
Huge congrats to the singers @andriaprokopa@saragouzy.singer and Marina Kerdraon-Dammekens for training so quickly and bringing a little @idrisi.ensemble flavour to these performances. It was such a pleasure working with you; being able to command the room and create so much stillness throughout the performance was no small feat!
And above all, enormous gratitude to @holly_herndon and @matdryhurst for seeing me, valuing my work, and giving me real agency throughout. It’s really felt like a deeply human project. Grateful and honoured to be part of Hildegard’s future in the world.
#Starmirror #HildegardVonBingen #HollyHerndon #MatDryhurst #kwberlin
✨ Thomas and his portative organ ✨
We’re stepping into an exciting year, with special news on the way…
Be the first to hear it (on Monday morning!) by signing up to our mailing list.
Link in bio ✉️
Organ custom made by @gregor_bgm
#explore #medieval #organ #instrument #ancient
FEATURE | Mapping the Mediterranean sound 🗺️
Corsican @thomasfournil created Idrîsî Ensemble while at @guildhallschool , drawing not only on Western classical traditions but finding resonance between medieval treatises, ancient oral traditions, and manuscripts such as Old Roman chant, tracing continuities across a thousand years of music.
@idrisi.ensemble is touring this September in Manchester, Leeds, and Bristol, plus Union Chapel as part of @londonjazzfest . Want to learn more about how they achieve their groundbreaking sound? Read our latest Feature on @continuo_connect 👇
🔗 link in bio
Last concert was a dream come true: singing Gaelic psalm, reviving the Greek Sibyl, exploring narrative singing, laments, and keening, performing the paghjella with female voices, premiering a Roman chant for the dead, and bringing the tribbiera to life with the spirit of historical recordings. And beyond that - celebrating our beautiful rainbow of voices, spirits, and journeys. I think we made our ancestors proud. 🌿 #idrisiensemble
Idrîsî residency B-roll. Sharing Corsica with the most amazing people, what a blessing! Thank you @cncm_voce , @claudefournil , Gilles, Katia and Bernard for all your help and support.
Instant volé (…) @idrisi.ensemble ✨
La poésie et la grâce capturée au détour d’une répétition. Une semaine de résidence au @cncm_voce autour de la musique médiévale, pour mettre en dialogue le chant corse et occitan ainsi que le chant vieux-romain, rare témoin d’une tradition orale datant de l’antiquité tardive.
🎬 Avec ici :
@elizaoakes_ - voix
@lucinemusaelian - vielle
@thomasfournil - orgue portatif
📷 • @virgile_pictures
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#medieval #medievalmusic #oldromanchant #meditativemusic #chanting #chants #singing #gregorianchant #ancient #manuscript #corsica #orthodox #byzantine #chant #liturgy #liturgicallife #meditation #liturgical #liturgicalmusic #sacredmusic
Counting down the days until we head to Corsica for our next adventure! As we gear up for an exciting residency this May, here’s a throwback to cherished moments from our previous journey back in October!
film pictures from @elizaoakes_
#corsica #island #corsican #oldromanchant #tradition #traditional #medieval #médiéval #ancientmusic #medievalmusic #scripture
If you noticed Corsican music in Ridley Scott’s latest Napoleon movie, this is because our director @thomasfournil worked for a year with the music team. He educated them on Corsican traditions and their political dimension, assisted the composer in arranging and notating music, coached singers, travelled to Corsica to rehearse and record with Corsican singers from his village, the ensemble @ensemble_spartimu Spartimu.
In his own words:
“I fought for Corsican sacred music to be featured in the film, so it was a big win when Ridley Scott approved the Kyrie. It turned out to be one of the most recognisable themes in the movie; it was used 4 times in the theatrical release. I handpicked medieval and Corsican music icons to record it. Gathering Marcel Pérès, Jérôme Casalonga, Jean-Etienne Langianni, François-Philippe Barbolosi and Laurent Barbolosi under one roof was a true privilege. It will be fantastic to work with Jérôme Casalonga again during our upcoming residency in Corsica this May.
Ancient heritage isn’t just a relic of the past; it’s a living, breathing force in today’s media. It serves as a profound channel for expressing stories, identities, politics, for elevating oneself, promoting joy and unity. While big productions often use traditional vocal techniques in orientalist or superficial ways, a heartfelt congratulations goes to the production and composer Martin Phipps for transcending this norm. The Kyrie featured in the movie not only reflects Napoleon’s legacy but also imbues the scenes it graces with profound, contextually rich meaning.”
If you want to hear us perform this Kyrie live, tickets are on sale now for our Summer concert this June 20th, link in our bio on our website!
#napoleon #napoleonmovie #corsican #ancient #medieval #medievalmusic
Corsica! We're sailing back to your stunning shores with melodies old and cherished. Eagerly awaiting to serenade you at the venerable Palais Fesch 🌊✨ together with @noemie.ducimetiere@alexandrachillea@elizaoakes_@dunja_botic and @henrytozer 🫶
📅 October 15, 16:00
📍 Palais Fesch
#acappella #MedievalMelodies #Corse #ClavecinEnCorse #OralTraditions #MedievalMusicLive #EnsembleAdventure #CorsicanCulture #AncientEchoes #TimelessTales #MuseeFesch #MediterraneanCrossings #OldRomanChant #Paghjella #medievalpolyphony #mediterraneanvoices
Butterflies in South Africa #butterflies #butterflybingo #butterflybonanza #yellowfellow #yellowtherebeautiful #whoOrderedTheYellowConfetti #flutteringinafrica #minimajesties #graygrounds #mudandmagic #earthyencounters
