Ars Antiqua Austria is an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of early music. Founded in Vienna in 1994, the organization has since grown to include a number of ensembles and choirs, as well as a number of soloists and composers. One of the most notable projects of the organization is Aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer ab Oriente, an ambitious project that seeks to bring together music and poetry from the Middle Ages.
Ars Antiqua Austria
Ars Antiqua Austria is an organization that was founded in Vienna in 1994 with the aim of preserving and promoting early music. The organization has grown over the years and now includes a number of ensembles and choirs, as well as a number of soloists and composers. The organization’s mission is to revive and promote music from the Middle Ages, and to ensure that the music of the past is not forgotten. The organization also seeks to create new music based on the old, and to experiment with new forms and techniques.
Aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer ab Oriente
Aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer ab Oriente is one of the most ambitious projects of Ars Antiqua Austria. This project seeks to bring together music and poetry from the Middle Ages, and to create a new form of expression that is both modern and ancient. The project consists of performances of medieval music and poetry, as well as the creation of new music based on the old. The project also seeks to explore the connections between music and poetry, and to create a dialogue between the two.
The project was launched in 2008, with the first performance taking place in Vienna. Since then, the project has been performed in numerous cities around the world, including Berlin, Paris, London, and New York. The project has also been featured at a number of international festivals, including the Edinburgh International Festival and the Salzburg Festival.
Overall, Ars Antiqua Austria’s Aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer ab Oriente project is an ambitious and inspiring undertaking that seeks to bring together music and poetry from the Middle Ages. Through this project, Ars Antiqua Austria is helping to ensure that the music of the past is not forgotten and is inspiring new forms of expression. The project has been performed around the world and has been featured at a number of prestigious festivals, further demonstrating its success.
Musical wonders of ages past resound in aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer Ab Oriente, an enthralling production of Ars Antiqua Austria. Founded in 1979, Ars Antiqua Austria has become a respected ensemble for historically informed performances of medieval and Renaissance music, as well as works from preceding eras. For this production, Ars Antiqua Austria chose a program featuring music from the 13th and 14th centuries, mostly from the Eastern Mediterranean Region, including compositions from the courts of Constantinopel and Cappadocia.
Aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer Ab Oriente began in subdued reverence with the mythological figure Memnon’s lament for his father Oedipus, sung with extreme gravitas by Pavel Kudinov in a solemn bass a capella. This opening piece was particularly beautiful, as it featured a single voice, unaccompanied by any other instruments, allowing the listener to simply concentrate on the somber lyrics.
The remainder of the program provided a variety of delightful auditory visual experiences. A particularly riveting performance in this regard was a rendition of a famous hymn to the Virgin Mary. The hymn was accompanied by a dazzling array of instruments, including a hurdy gurdy, a stringed medieval instrument similar to a lute and more recently popularized in the works of Manu Chao. Then, during a rendition of a Cathar chant from Southern France in the 13th century, the ensemble used two tambourines to enhance the Mediterranean undertones.
Overall, Ars Antiqua Austria enchanted the audience by providing a wonderful musical journey that moved from ancient myth and legend to spiritual devotion. In the hands of the masterful Ars Antiqua Austria, the music heard in aufschnaiter: Memnon Sacer Ab Oriente ranged from serene chants to energetic instrumentals, taking the audience back to an Ireland of the Middle Ages, when some of the earliest forms of European music were created and performed. The result was a true musical pleasure.
