Cover Story

Medieval and Early Renaissance hits performed on shawms, bagpipes, slide trumpet, sackbut, recorders and percussion.

What makes a song leap across national boundaries and language barriers, slip from the secular to the ecclesiastic, and remain at the top of the charts for more than 70 years? We don’t have the formula, but we know why these pieces wedged themselves into the cultural background of medieval Europe. The music is fabulous.

Cover Story tracks connections between people, places, texts and music. It follows the evolution of popular late medieval melodies across Europe as they are copied, rearranged and repurposed over years, and even decades.

Catchy dances and lyrical chansons, ingenious rounds and dazzling divisions by Machaut, Dufay, Bedyngham, Binchois, and many unnamed masters.

Inspired by the virtuosic wind players of the Middle Ages, Blondel brings their signature rousing blend of shawms and bagpipes and introspective mix of recorders to Birmingham for the first time since 2020.

'Absolutely FAB lovely music, great explanations.'
'Fantastic concert, a real joy to listen to such beautiful instruments played so well.'
'They say there’s a first time for everything. This was our very first time to hear live Medieval music. And what a wonderful experience. Thanks for introducing us.'

Blondel:
Belinda Paul
Emily Baines
Lizzie Gutteridge
Daniel Serafini