Not only did 15th-century cities witness enormous social, political, and cultural upheavals; they were also places of concentrated power that utilised art as a means to project authority and influence. Princes across the realms sought to become patrons of the arts and exhibited their artistic preeminence in order to establish prestige.

Into the Winds offers an immersive musical journey through several major cities of the period: Paris during the tumultuous wars between the Armagnacs and Burgundians, Bruges for the occasion of the wedding of Philip the Good to Isabella of Portugal in 1430, Florence during the reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Granada at the moment of its reconquest by the combined forces of Aragon and Castile, London under the rule of Henry VIII (who was cruel and brutal, but nevertheless passionate about music), and lastly Lyon upon the arrival of François I, on the way to his future victory at Marignan.

From the noble harmonies of the alta capella, the emblematic ceremonial ensemble typical of Burgundian cities, to the English “broken consort,” to French and Italian minstrels’ repertoire or that of Arab-Andalusian influence, this programme presents a kaleidoscope of vivid sonorities that allows listeners to discover the repertoire upon which European Renaissance music is founded.