Blossoms among the Thorns

The lives of Ss Margaret, Barbora and Catherine in medieval choral works

Tiburtina Ensemble – vocal ensemble (Czech Republic)
Barbora Sojková – artistic diector

Sunday 26 July 2009, 7.30 pm
St. Agnes of Bohemia Monastery, Anežská 12, Prague 1

The programme of this evening evolved aound the legends of the lives of the holy virgins, as preserved in the Benedictine and Cisterian manuscripts, representing the late medieval choral repertoire of Bohemia. Three of those legends – that of St. Catherine (usually depicted with the wheel), St. Barbara (whose symbols are the sword and chalice) and St. Margaret (associated with the dragon symbol) – were sung by the female vocal ensemble Tiburtina under the leadership of Barbora Sojková, their voices resonating through St. Agnes' Convent.  In addition to these melodically rich choral compositions, the ensemble presented 13th century polyphonic motets to the Virgin Mary, to the accompaniment of gothic harp.