Straight from the Heart

One of the most remarkable manuscripts of polyphonic songs from the second half of the fifteenth century is the Chansonnier Cordiforme de Jean de Montchenu. It is a magnificent songbook in the shape of a heart, overlaid with a deep red velvet binding and the only example of this type of songbook binding that we know from the Renaissance.

Hidden inside are 43 chansons by Binchois, Busnois, Ghizeghem, Dufay and Ockeghem, among others, on French and Italian texts. The manuscript thus contains a sample of the most popular songs that were in circulation at that time.

Research into the performance practice of these courtly chansons focuses in particular on the role that instruments played in the interpretation of this music. Did these compositions belong to a purely vocal tradition or not? Led by Marc Lewon, Ensemble Leones explores the Franco-Flemish chanson tradition as recorded by one of the most famous sources of the 15th-century song repertoire.

Music by Gilles Binchois, Antoine Busnois, Hayne van Ghizeghem, Guillame Du Fay and Johannes Ockeghem.

• this performance is part of Voices of Passion 2026

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Voices of Passion 2026

Leuven and polyphony have been intertwined for years and years. Together with the Alamire Foundation, 30CC puts this tradition under the spotlight, using current knowledge and performance practice, during this Passion of Voices festival.

In this edition of Passion of Voices we draw a musical line through time. Five generations of composers shaped the polyphonic music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and also put the Low Countries unmistakably on the map as the home of polyphony.

More info

www.leones.de

artistic director Marc Lewon with Els Janssens-Vanmunster (vocals), Cyril Escoffier (vocals), Raitis Grigalis (vocals), Baptiste Romain (viola and lira da braccio), Elizabeth Rumsey (viola d'arco) and Marc Lewon (lute and viola d'arco)