Search - Dialogos, Katarina Livljanic :: Abbo Abbas

This disc explores the oldest existing polyphonic music of medieval Europe, coming from 10th century Winchester England and Fleury sur Loire during the period of the famous monk Saint Abbo, considered by scholars to be 'the most cultivated man of his times.' Notated in a very complex system of neumes that allow several possibilities for reconstruction, these rich polyphonies would normally have been condemned to oblivion because of the impossibility of finding a unique solution for their deciphering. For this recording, Dialogos worked with Susan Rankin of Cambridge University, the principal international specialist in Winchester polyphony. The four singers create a powerful ambiance of words and sounds, in which 10th century music dialogues entwine with improvisations in the style of the medieval cantors whom Abbo might have heard in his own abbey.