ABOUT ENSEMBLE LUCIDARIUM

Ensemble Lucidarium is an early music group founded in 1991. It specializes in repertoires that at the time were considered "minor" yet in reality were powerful vehicles for spreading and developing new musical concepts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. These works, meant for daily use and wide distribution, mirror the taste and mentality of the era while at the same time raising a series of questions about the relationship between written music and oral transmission and about the continuous exchange of forms and themes between the different levels of medieval and Renaissance society.

ABOUT “LA ISTORIA DE PURIM”

"La Istoria de Purim" is a program of Renaissance music from the Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Spanish, and Judeo-German communities of Italy. The music reflects cultural cross-pollination made possible by the relatively peaceful coexistence between Jews and their neighbors. Written in Italian, but in Hebrew characters, the Purim plays that are included in this program were designed for the edification of Jewish women who may have been able to read Hebrew characters but were not necessarily well-versed in the language itself. A reconstruction of the music to which the plays are set as been made possible by extensive historical and musicological research, as well as by borrowing archaic melodies sung by housewives, farmers, craftsmen and factory workers who have lovingly conserved the tradition of the sung ottava rima.

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Sponsored by
The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies
The Doubletree Hotel at Reid Park
The Tucson Jewish Community Center • The College of Humanities
The College of Social & Behavioral Sciences • The College of Fine Arts School of Music
The College of Fine Arts • The UA History Department
The Group of Early Modern Studies
The University of Arizona Medieval, Renaissance & Reformation Committee