Voice: Medieval Women in Song

Introduction by Professor Elizabeth Gemmill

Medieval Women in Song: celebrates women in medieval music as composers, icons, and narrators. With sacred and secular songs from across Europe, Voice Trio’s programme features the beautiful chant of St Hildegard of Bingen, medieval songs about the ever-popular holy maiden St Mary, ‘laude’ (praise songs), and songs exploring secular subjects of desire, sisterhood, and unattainable love. This music continues to inspire today, and the trio will perform new works by contemporary female composers whose compositions are influenced by these medieval women.

Pre-concert talk: Professor Elizabeth Gemmill will give a short talk about Medieval women inspired by the divine.

Inspired by the divine
We are used to thinking that women in the Middle Ages were subjugated to the will of men. After all, the laws of inheritance disfavoured them; it was rare for women to hold public office; they did not fight in battles; they could not be ordained as priests. And yet, there was an avenue, through the religious life, for women to wield authority, to influence others, and, inspired by the divine, to create. Hildegard, twelfth-century abbess of the German monastery of Bingen, whose music we are to hear this evening was truly exceptional – scholar, musician, poetess, visionary. But there were other, albeit less known, medieval women for whom the Church gave opportunities to teach, to lead, to nurture, and to inspire. In this brief talk we shall meet some of them.

Voice is an exciting, female vocal trio. In their 18 years together, they have built a dedicated fan-base across the world; a rich, varied repertoire of their own arrangements, new commissions, and rarely performed Early Music; and they have honed a truly unique sound. They draw on their individual musical interests and experiences to create thrilling timbres and a blend that has been described as ‘one voice’.

The trio has toured throughout the UK, USA and Europe with their two self-released albums: Musical Harmony (2013), “a stunning body of work destined to prick up the hairs on the back of one’s neck” (Oxford Times & Mail), and Patterns of Love (2015). Collaborative releases include: I Have Set My Hert So Hy (Avie, 2015) with Dufay Collective, whom they also toured two new programmes of Spanish medieval pilgrim music in Galicia in September 2019; and Leoš Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared; Moravian Folksongs; Říkadla with Julius Drake and Nicky Spence (Hyperion, 2019). “The arrival of the siren-like trio… is heart-stopping and haunting in equal measure” (Gramophone Recording of the Month).

Voice released their latest album, Hildegard Portraits on SOMM Recordings in June 2022. 4.5* “beauty and precision.. Highly recommended” – James Manheim, AllMusic. They continue to tour their multimedia show Hildegard Transfigured, with visual artist Innerstrings, described as “transfixing” Opera Today & received 4* review The Guardian.

Professor Elizabeth Gemmill is Professor in History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Kellogg College and of the Royal Historical Society. An author of several publications, Elizabeth’s latest books include: The Nobility and Ecclesiastical Patronage in Thirteenth-Century England and her edition of The Register of John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich 1299-1325.  She is currently working on a book about prices, custom and commerce in the medieval northeast based on the records of Durham Cathedral Priory.

Tea and coffee will be served after performance.
Full programme coming soon.