Carmina Burana, a thirteenth-century illuminated manuscript from the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuern, was made famous in the 1930s by Karl Orff’s setting of a selection of its Latin lyrics.

The title page of the manuscript illustrates the wheel of fortune, the starting point for this fascinating exploration of the thoughts and dreams of German Mediaeval poet-composers. It includes songs from Carmina Burana, and works by Gottfried von Straßbourg (a dramatic excerpt from the epic romance of Tristan and Isolde), Niedhart von Reuenthal, and Oswald von Wolkenstein, the last Minnesänger. Themes include the fickleness of fortune, moving declarations of love, solemn prayers, and earthy depictions of village life.

Faye Newton and Hazel Brooks have delighted audiences across Europe with entertaining programmes that remain faithful to the historical roots of Mediaeval music. Their first CD, The Language of Love, has been universally praised: ‘Duo Trobairitz recreate the sound world and the artistic idiom with sufficient authority that, were the original creators of this music to come back and hear these performances…. they would have stamped their feet in approval’ – International Record Review