Music Before 1800 Continues Season with Alla Francesca

NYC's longest-running early music series Music Before 1800 continues its 43rd season on Sunday, November 5 at 4PM at Corpus Christi Church. Under the joint direction of Brigitte Lesne and Pierre Hamon, the French ensemble Alla francesca presents Juifs et Trouvères; Jewish Songs of the 13th Century in Old French and Hebrew. For this revelatory program, Alla francesca reconstructs songs from manuscripts of the Jewish communities living in Northern France in the second half of the 13th-century. Since only a few musical fragments remain, the group sets the intertwined Hebrew and langue d'oïl poetry to tunes by contemporaneous composers, the songs accompanied by varied medieval instruments.

MB1800, a NYC institution, is the city's longest-running series devoted exclusively to early music. Since the series' inception, concerts have been presented at Corpus Christi Church in Morningside Heights, giving audiences a uniquely satisfying experience. The 2017-18 season places an emphasis on choral music (especially Renaissance), welcoming back esteemed vocal ensembles Stile Antico, Blue Heron, and Cappella Pratensis. Series debuts will be made by exciting NYC ensembles LeStrange Viols and House of Time.

Louise Basbas is the founder and director of the series. The New Yorker praised MB1800, calling it "the essential series." Time Out New York remarked: "The resonant acoustics of Corpus Christi Church will deliver you into your own personal solitude.... Few other venues can claim this fusion of strong programming and quality auditory surroundings."

Music Before 1800 is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. MB1800 is also supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.