The crusades undertaken by Christians in the Middle Ages to reconquer the Holy Land lost to the Arabs by Byzantium in the 7th century may have been violent in themselves, but they inspired great poetry and music. The works of troubadours, trouvères and minnesingers usually presented a highly idealised image of bloody events. Reaching for the music of the Crusades, the artists of Murmur Mori supplement songs gathered from centuries-old sources with their own sound reconstructions, based on their knowledge of the musical style of the era and analysis of the prosody of old texts.

These musicians do not only present the point of view of those promoting the idea of ​​fighting dissenters, but also show the personal tragedies of loved ones separated as a result of the rulers’ calls to undertake a dangerous expedition. During the concert, we will hear the complaint of a wife whose husband went to such a war, preserved in an early form of the Venetian dialect. In another text – the twelfth-century A la fontana del vergier, by a troubadour named Marcabru, which we will hear in the contrafactum form of the L'autrier iust'una sebissa pastorela – the recipients of the anger of a woman in this situation are Louis VII of France, calling on the knights to defend the Holy Land, and Christ himself, who sanctified this distant land with his blood.

During the Murmur Mori performance, we will hear the works by artists who themselves took part in the Crusades. The most famous artist among the crusaders of the Middle Ages was undoubtedly England’s Richard the Lionheart. Returning from the Third Crusade, the monarch was recognised and captured by the subjects of Leopold V, Duke of Austria. The long poem Ja nus hons pris is Richard’s complaint, written during his two-year imprisonment. Another troubadour ruler – Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and King of Navarre – first took part in an expedition against the Cathars and then initiated an expedition himself, which went down in history as the Barons’ Crusade. It is very likely that he was accompanied by Chardon de Croisilles – another poet and musician whose song we will also hear during the concert. Chardon’s connections with his court are shown, among other things, by the fact that in two of his chansons he praises Margaret of Bourbon – Theobald’s wife.