La Fonte Musica

In three concerts featuring Renaissance music, three ensembles will showcase the close connection between music and architecture in three Italian cities: Venice, Rome and Florence.

Guillaume Dufay composed Nuper rosarum flores for the consecration of Florence Cathedral in 1436. This motet is based on the proportions of the church building and those of Solomon's Temple. This creates an intrinsic link between music and architecture. The composition is considered an icon in Western music history. Dufay's Lamentatio is also on the programme; it is about the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, and more specifically the transformation of the Hagia Sophia from a cathedral into a mosque – as happened again recently.