About the project
BMH – Bridging Musical Heritage is a new initiative that creatively promotes and shares European early music heritage. It builds on connections developed over the past decade between research and historical performance practice centres in Portugal, Spain and France, with the goal of widening their reach and influence.
By circulating musicians, making recovered scores from the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra (Portugal) easily accessible, producing free digital content and running a range of pedagogical actions, Bridging Musical Heritage will offer fresh perspectives on early music heritage and encourage the transnational exchange of musicians and patrimony across Europe. This will leave a lasting impact on present and future generations by sparking interest and curiosity in Europe's shared culture and musical heritage, while making it widely and readily accessible.
consortium
O BANDO DE SURUNYO
e JANGADA DOS SENTIDOS ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL
CAPELLA SANCTAE
CRUCIS
UNIVERSIDAD DE
VALLADOLID
Project activities
1. MUSICOLOGY
Historical research and critical editions of 16th- and 17th-century manuscripts and printed music from Coimbra (Portugal) and Valladolid (Spain), including the reconstruction of lost parts.
2. CONCERTS (9 in total, all firmly rooted in the recovered music manuscripts)
O Bando de Surunyo will perform one concert in Serbia, two in Spain and one in Portugal;
Capella Sanctae Crucis will perform two concerts in Spain, two in France and one in Portugal;
Both ensembles will join forces for the concert “Dance of the Planets” in Portugal, the project's closing event, enriched with staging and dance.
3. CONFERENCES (9 in total)
Tiago Simas Freire, Hugo Sanches, Soterraña Rincón and Paulo Estudante will present conferences on music in 16th- and 17th-century manuscript and printed sources from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and the Archivo Musical de la Catedral de Valladolid (Spain), offering context and sharing scientific knowledge. The goal is to engage a more interested audience, spark curiosity about the repertoire and highlight the European added value.
4. WORKSHOPS (9 in total)
Tiago Simas Freire and Hugo Sanches, artistic directors of the ensembles above, are also active performers (cornett and recorder, and lute, respectively). Both will lead workshops on historically informed performance at each concert, another way to connect audiences and students with the project and the music, with immediate results.
5. PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITY
Tiago Simas Freire, a teacher at CNSMDL, will lead the pedagogical project, assisted by Soterraña Aguirre Rincón, Paulo Estudante and Hugo Sanches, for students of the CNSMDL Early Music department on performing Iberian polychoral repertoire from the late 16th to mid-17th century in Latin and vernacular – "Iberian polychorality 1590-1650" / "Polychoralité ibérique 1590-1650".
6. PUBLISHING
The edited music and facsimiles will be available for free download on the project's official website;
Two CD-books, “Missa La zagala mas hermosa" and “Polychoralité ibérique 1650”;
Concert videos will be shared on the project's official website, partner sites and online platforms during and/or after the concerts;
A video documentary on the project, capturing every stage from manuscript study and critical editing to rehearsals, backstage, concerts, workshops and conferences, all enriched with interviews.
consortium
Bridging Musical Heritage brings together research, performance and education around the early music of Portugal, Spain and France. Explore the consortium, the project activities and the freely available editions to discover how recovered manuscripts are being brought back to the concert stage.