About a dozen and a half medieval and renaissance songs will be performed by the Tagus Ensemble at the Carmo Archaeological Museum in this public concert open. The event, which is taking place on March 3 at 7pm, provides one of the rare opportunities to listen to this type of music, in this case interpreted by musicians and historians of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University (NOVA FCSH).

The interpretation by the Tagus Ensemble takes place in conjunction with the “Desenhar a Eternidade” (Drawing Eternity) conference. The aim here is to contribute to jointly reflecting on the current perspectives on medievalism, opening research paths that allow for the recovery of a network of synergies which, for centuries, connected the Iberian kingdoms and promoting scientific collaboration between Portuguese and Spanish historians.

Consisting of a flexible number of members – between three and six depending on the repertoire – the Tagus Ensemble made its debut in 2013 at the Lamego Museum during the “Compasses with History” event. Ever since, on special occasions, they have performed Cantigas de Santa Maria, cantigas d’amigo de Martin Codax, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Iberian Renaissance romances and vilancicos, among others. The songbook is selected following careful study of the period in question, an activity which requires the interweaving of the experiences of the members both as researchers and musicians. The basic instruments are the voice and flutes, to which are added the lute, the pontic lyre, the horn and various percussions in the case of medieval repertoires, or the hand viola, viola da gamba and cornet in the case of Renaissance music.