Dante and Music
Ensemble Micrologus
Patrizia Bovi vocals, harp, buccina
Gabriele Russo vielle, rebec, buccina
Goffredo Degli Esposti shawm, traverso, bagpipes, double flute
Peppe Frana lute, chitarrino
Andres Montilla vocals
Enea Sorini vocals, percussions
music by Guiraut de Bornehl, Arnault Daniel and other authors
The journey of the Micrologus Ensemble starts from afar, but leads right into the heart of the Comedy. A journey that revives the sounds of the Middle Ages, combining a rigorous study of the ancient manuscripts with a meticulous attention to folk music and iconographic sources. And thus, the sacred songs collected in the “Laudario di Cortona” combine with the dance music and love poems of such troubadours as Arnault Daniel, whom Dante met in Purgatory, or Bernart de Ventadorn and Marcabru. Moving from the trumpets, bells, drums and shawms evoked in Inferno, we get to the songs expressly mentioned by the Poet—like the famous “Amor che ne la mente mi ragiona”—and to the songs of praise echoing in Paradiso. Finally, we get back to earth with the madrigals and ballads popular at the court of the della Scala family, in Verona, where Dante found refuge.
