Come and join us for a lunchtime concert featuring the very best of baroque and renaissance music from Poland performed by the early music ensemble from Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków – the legendary FLORIPARI.

FLORIPARI are a group who are dedicated to rediscovering and presenting the noble beauty of European and in particular Polish musical art. The main aim of the ensemble is to present the culture of the renaissance and baroque – still quite unfamiliar to many.

This group of young Polish musicians with their historical costumes, characteristic instruments and music by European composers from the Renaissance and Baroque periods will bring to Scotland an interesting reminder of the historical development of Europe and its countries and cultures.

With their programme “THE ROYAL COURT OF THE JAGIELLONIANS – a day in the life of the court” FLORIPARI will present the greatest masters of the Polish renaissance and foreign composers resident at or passing through the Jagiellonian court.

The magnificent Royal Court of the Jagiellonian Dynasty of Polish kings shone across all of 16th century Europe with a glorious light of wisdom and art. Nowhere else were the ancient muses looking down on their domains more pleased than here, at Wawel. History tells us that Kaliope – the muse of the art of music, was the most favourite one of all. At the time, all sorts of artists and creative minds of the time were drawn to the seat of the Jagiellonians on the Wawel hill, arriving from all over Europe. Legend has it that the famous Sigismund bell owes its noble sound to a string dropped in by the Hungarian lute master – Bakfark.

The Royal Court of the Jagiellonians is a concert with spoken interludes (often in English as well as Polish), a concert that tells a story of one hypothetical but realistic day in the life of the court during the reign of the last two kings of the dynasty. This literary and musical tale is centred around the following themes: Morning prayer, Dancing Lesson, Confessions of Love, Great Events, Royal Ball, Pensive Evening

Join us for the rhythm of dance steps, renaissance songs, music for solo lute, sung and spoken poetry, moving prayers, the resonant sounds of a great celebration from the Royal Cathedral at Wawel and a glimpse at the art of the 16th century – the Polish Golden Age.

Organised in association with the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh, to mark the Presidency of Poland in the Council of the European Union (1 July – 31 December 2011).

Friday, 23 September 2011 at Noon in The Town House, Inverness.

Source: Inverness Festivals