La Quintina

Le Chant des Seraines

Musics from Margaret of Austria's time

These verses, taken from the poetic works of Etienne Forcadel, a 16th-century writer and jurist, find an echo in this program dedicated to Margaret of Austria, almost six times queen, sovereign woman of letters, serene among the serene, and siren or muse of artistic and musical creation during the Renaissance. La Quintina pays homage to this great lady of European stature, but also to the female figure praised by the greatest musicians of the 15th and 16th centuries: Dufay, Binchois, Ockeghem, Josquin, Pierre de la Rue. Sometimes plaintive, humorous or rustic, the Burgundian songs depict the game of love, contemplation, regret and absence in polyphonic miniatures of unparalleled refinement. The concert, produced from period sources, also constitutes a moment of exchange with the public who will be able to admire the songbooks compiled for Margaret of Austria.​