Dame de Deuil

Marguerite of Austria (1480-1530) lived a sad life, by the time she was thirty she was berieved of her child, family and a future on the French throne. Nevertheless, Marguerite was artistically gifted and enjoyed the comforting company of writers, musicians and composers at her court in Mechelen. Her library is a ‘mer à boire’ of exceptional musical manuscripts. Musical works reflecting the grief and unhappiness of the narrator fill the greater part of a splendid manuscript housed nowadays in the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels; it was undoubtedly prepared for Marguerite between 1508 and 1516 in full awareness of her musical tastes and her predilection for mournful subjects. The program on this cd by La Morra is largely based on music preserved in this manuscript. La Morra (2000) has performed in many renowned Early Music events across Europe, including Belgian Festival van Vlaanderen, Dutch Network Oude Muziek, etc. The ensemble (4-7 musicians) is usually heard in various vocal and instrumental constellations which vary according to the requirements of performed repertoire. La Morra 's first CD recording Le Jardin de Plaisance was enthousiastically received: “…skillful and involving is Le Jardin de plaisance…. To hear these pieces performed so elegantly is to be reminded why one fell in love with this music; and there are times when such a reminder is timely”. Early Music