Shows
Trobár TalksCharlotte Cooper-Davis on Christine de Pizan!In anticipation of our Oct 25-26 shows A Room of Her Own: Christine’s Defense of Women (tickets available here), Allison and Elena speak about our favorite groundbreaking medieval writer with scholar Charlotte Cooper-Davis. Find links to both her introductory book, Christine de Pizan: Life, Work, Legacy, and her scholarly tome, Christine de Pizan, Empowering Women in Text and Image, at her website.Also:Our first album Il dit/Elle dit is available for purchase!!Check out Judy Chicago’s Dinner PartySupport the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to...
2024-10-141h 09Trobár TalksPilot Episode Re-Release! Christine and The Book of the City of LadiesWe are re-releasing our first ever podcast conversation in time for the return of one of our favorite programs, A Room of Her Own: Christine de Pizan's Defense of Women (coming to Cleveland October 25-26!). Founding members Allison Monroe, Elena Mullins, and Karin Weston discuss Pizan's bold and ambitious defense of women in her masterpiece, The Book of the City of Ladies. We also take a closer look at some of the hair-raising, misogynistic texts that Christine so ably rebutted and explore how these themes affected the vocal music of Christine's day. More information about A Room...
2024-10-061h 13
SalonEraTraveling Musicians in the Middle AgesHow did Medieval artists get exposed to new music, pick up new skills or instruments, and develop their artistry? Guests Allison Monroe (Trobár) and Liza Malamut (Newberry Consort) share performances from a program that explored 14th and 15th century Medieval “Minstrel Schools,” where musicians from across Europe gathered to exchange ideas, repertoire, and more.
2023-10-141h 05
SalonEraNov. 13: Shipwreck!Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose sank in 1545 with a chest full of instruments on board. We talk with polymaths Allison Monroe and Peter Walker about telling the ship’s story through music alongside featured performances from medieval ensemble Trobár.
2023-08-0452 min
The Multicultural Middle Ages PodcastExperiencing Medieval MusicWhat did medieval music sound like? How can we read and perform the musical notation from medieval manuscripts? What does singing and playing music written before 1500 actually feel like? How did the early music tradition carry forward into the seventeenth century? In this episode, Reed O'Mara interviews musicologists Elena Mullins Bailey and Allison Monroe from the musical ensemble Trobár on the ins and outs of medieval song, both sacred and profane, and the mechanics of historical performance practice.For more about Reed, Elena, Allison, and this topic, check out our Show Notes: www.multiculturalmiddleages.com.
2023-07-2558 minTrobár Talksthe Anne Azéma episodeIn this episode the trio was fortunate enough to snag a conversation with Anne Azéma, French-born vocalist, scholar and stage director, as well as the director of The Boston Camerata since 2008 and the French ensemble Aziman, which she founded, since 2005. We got to hear about Anne's musical training, and chat about the challenges of working with and presenting medieval music to modern audiences. Enjoy!Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-12-161h 11Trobár TalksFound in Translation with Robert KehewIn this month's episode we interview award-winning playwright and poet Robert Kehew. Kehew was gracious enough to let us use some of the translations from his book Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours, a Bilingual Edition, for our latest season program, Found in Translation 2.0. You can learn more about the book and even hear some live readings of their translations by Kehew and W. D. Snodgrass here, and here's a link to a talk given by Kehew at the Library of Congress shortly after his book was published.Support the showFollow...
2022-12-1657 minTrobár TalksLet's Sing Chant with Conrad von ZabernIn this episode we take a tour through Conrad von Zabern's 15th c. treatise on singing chant, "De modo bene cantandi choralem cantum." Von Zabern's exhortations are entertaining and still relevant today!Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-12-1652 minTrobár Talksthe David McCormick episodeThis month we chat with our friend and colleague, David McCormick. David is the Executive Director of Early Music America, the Artistic Director of Early Music Access Project, a beautiful vielle player, and an overall delightful human being. We get to hear all about how he came to early music, and what his hopes and dreams are for the field.Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-12-161h 02Trobár TalksPizan's PastourelleIn this episode we discuss the poetic pastourelle genre popular with 13th c. French trouvères, and read excerpts from Christine de Pizan's longer narrative pastourelle, the Dit de la pastoure (Tale of the Shepherdess). Medieval pastourelles all begin with the same setup: a knight encounters a shepherdess while he's out riding. The stories play out in a variety of ways, but there is a consistent undertone of potential sexual violence, which is often realized in the narrative conclusion. While the tale is typically told from the perspective of the knight, Christine gives the shepherdess narrative control. She's a f...
2022-12-1659 minTrobár TalksTrobár Acts?!? The Second Shepherd's PlayWarning: This month’s episode of Trobár Talks is so bad that we can only imagine you all using it as blackmail material years from now. Regardless, we wish everyone a happy holiday season and promise to do better in 2022!! *******In the episode we read excerpts of The Second Shepherds’ Play in a modern translation (with a few semi-appropriate musical insertions).Dover Thrift Editions - https://www.etsy.com/listing/1060686394/vintage-pop-culture-book-everyman-and?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_c-books_movies_and_music-books-literature_and_fiction-literary_fiction&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAiAh_GNBhA...
2022-12-1634 minTrobár TalksStorytime with Marie de France! GuigemarIn this episode the trio reads aloud an English translation of "Guigemar," an engaging and somewhat strange lai (or tale) by Marie de France, preserved in a manuscript from the 13th c. And of course we provide context and color commentary along the way!Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-12-161h 15Trobár TalksThomas Binkley and Orientalism in the Early Music MovementIn this episode the trio discusses the influence that Middle Eastern traditions may or may not have had on the development of European medieval music, and what modern re-creators of the music (like Thomas Binkley) have learned from studying those traditions. In particular we discuss Binkley's "On the Modern Performance of Medieval Monophonic Repertory," Jonathan Shull's "Locating the Past in the Present: Living Traditions and the Performance of Early Music," Kirsten Yri's "Thomas Binkley and the Studio der Frühen Musik: challenging 'the myth of Westernness," and John Haines's "The Arabic Style of Performing Medieval Music."Mentioned i...
2022-12-161h 20Trobár TalksTrobár Reads: The Story of an Early Music QuartetJoin the trio for a romp through The Story of an Early Music Quartet, Sterling Jones's first-hand account of the rise and fall of the Studio der frühen Musik. The Studio helped set the standard for medieval music performance in the 1960s and influenced future generations of performers as founding members of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Historical Performance Department at Indiana University. The book is full of delightful anecdotes that paint a picture of an early music scene somewhat different from today's.Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up t...
2022-12-161h 04Trobár TalksYe Olde Yuletide SpecialIn this episode the trio explores Christmas traditions in medieval England, including feasting, decorating, knife throwing, caroling, and extra-special holiday treats (dried fruit and nuts disguised as entrails, anyone?)*****************************Watch this space for performances by yours truly of seasonal music, including one of the carols discussed in the episode.*****************************Relevant episodes of the History of English Podcast:The Birth of English Song ****** Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ****** Food for Thought*****************************Relevant episodes of Tasting History:What Did Medieval Peasants Eat? ****** How to Make a Medieval TrencherSupport the...
2022-12-1656 minTrobár TalksPresenting Love's Dominion!In this episode Allison and Elena are joined by guest artists Sian Ricketts and Allen Otte, providing you a behind the scenes glance at our upcoming live concerts! We even preview two of our favorite selections from the program. Learn more about the two shows here, happening this Sep. 17 & 18 in Cleveland Heights and Cleveland's Clark Fulton neighborhood.And learn more about the excellent makers of Elena's harp, Campbell Harps, here!Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-12-1650 minTrobár TalksShepherds, Nuns, & Ships: Our 2022-23 SeasonA long-overdue episode detailing our 2022-23 season that started a month ago (cue rending of garments and gnashing of teeth). Check out our season details here! Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-10-1554 minTrobár TalksHildegard v. the PrelatesIn this episode we read and discuss a letter that Hildegard wrote to the Prelates at Mainz, who had placed her and her nuns under interdict for failing to follow their instructions. The interdict had deprived them of the ability to sing the divine office, a punishment that Hildegard believed was not just unnecessarily harsh, but also contradictory to the will of God. In this letter, she makes some of her strongest recorded statements about music's essential role in worship, and its power to connect humanity with its maker. You can access the letter (pp. 76-80) and many others at...
2022-09-0336 minTrobár TalksHildegard dresses her virtuesIn this episode, we explore the symbolically rich descriptions of the appearance and dress of the virtues that Hildegard experienced in her visions, and described in her work Scivias (c. 1150).Support the showFollow us on Facebook, and sign up to receive not-at-all-frequent email updates!
2022-07-2338 minTrobár TalksHildegard v. TengswichIn this episode we get a bit more acquainted with one of our favorite saints, the 12th-c. abbess, writer, composer, mystic, visionary, philosopher, and botanist Hildegard von Bingen. As impressive a person as Hildegard was, she was not uncontroversial in her own day. An exchange of letters between Hildegard and a Mistress Tengswich reveal aspects of her world view and ways of operating that may trouble you as much as they did some of her contemporaries. You can access those letters (pp. 127-128) and many others at this link. We hope you enjoy the conversation!Support the s...
2022-06-2035 min